The World As We Know It (Temporary hiatus)
by Steampunk Sparrow
Summary: What if Lightning and her friends hadn't awoken from Crystal stasis at the end of the game? Hope is far from prepared for the new reality he awakens to.
1. Chapter 1

******4/4/2013 Update: I went back through this chapter and corrected things to the best of my ability. Some of my glaringly obvious mistakes have disappeared, but I can't promise it's perfect. That said, it still needs to be beta'd.**

******Anyway, since I cut out the original authors notes (they made this longer than I wanted it to be) let me just delve into a few quick notes (aka, warning) before we get started.**

******1. This fic is shippy and I don't particularly care about age.**

******2. That said, there won't be any mature content. **

******Enjoy!**

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Chapter 1

___It started with faces — The faces of people he knew. Fang, Snow, Lightning... all of them seemed to flash by in an instant. Hope didn't know what to think – didn't know how to react. He was in a dream-like state __— ____somewhere between fantasy and reality. The visions before him appeared like washed out apparitions._

___Then, as abruptly as the faces appeared, they faded and he saw himself. He was standing there, looking confident, almost cocky. There was something off about it. He wasn't sure exactly what. Something about his own image spooked him. It wasn't just the way he held himself; There was a look in his eyes, something that wasn't quite him. They held a hint of desire __— ____a hint of something Hope couldn't quite fathom._

___Before he could give it any more thought, the boy in front of him gave an abrupt shudder and fell to the floor. Then, much to Hopes bewilderment, he began to change. He could see it silhouetted against a wall __— ____his frame hunched over, his entire body contorting as it changed shape, transforming into something large and monstrous._

___This, though, was nothing compared to what happened next. A shrill, bestial cry rang through his ears. Before he knew what was going on, the monster before him was moving with rapid violent motion, dragging a pair of monstrous claws across a series of bulbous forms. Blood spattered across the wall and Hope felt his blood chill as he realized that the forms he was seeing were human._

___More forms appeared: the shadows of men approaching the creature. Holding pistols, they open fired on it – on him._

___He could hear the chaotic howl of the monster and the piercing shriek of bullets as they left the barrels of guns, showering the creature in a rain of fire. The beast turned on the soldiers. He watched with growing revulsion as the beast lashed out, snapping one man's neck like a twig. The others retaliated. One by one, their forms fell before the havoc the creature wreaked upon them._

___Finally, Hope couldn't handle it anymore. He couldn't watch. He didn't want to watch. His entire body was telling him to run. Somehow, he had to get away._

___He found, though, that he couldn't pull away. The bloodshed kept playing in front of him like some all-too-realistic horror show. His entire body shuddered like a engine, bile rising in his throat. He had to hold back the urge to wretch at the dismembered corpses that were starting to litter the ground._

___Finally, his saving grace came. Unfortunately, it was in a rather unsavory form. Abruptly and out of nowhere, his own lungs were suddenly aching for oxygen. He had no idea what was going on. Where before he was having trouble settling his stomach, now he was desperately trying to suck in air, his entire body heaving as he attempted to force oxygen into his lung. It felt though like something was constricting his airway. Hope gasped for breath, unable to do anything but struggle helplessly against the state of asphyxiation that threatened to take hold of him._

___The last thing he saw before he blacked out was a hand; Splayed across the floor, splattered in blood, it looked like it was groping __— ____groping for something. But groping for what?_

* * *

At first, Hope wasn't sure what had happened. It wasn't abrupt by all means. Even in crystal stasis, some stream of consciousness had remained _—_ something to pull his mind out of the void___. __It was a something that_ had kept it working, thinking, and reminiscing; dwelling, for the most part, on the past: what he could have done right, what he could have done wrong, what he could have done in general if it hadn't been for the purge.

Still, it took him a moment to figure out why he was suddenly hunched over on his hands and knees, his breath heavy as he leaned over the ground, beads of sweat dripping like muggy rain drops down his face. Bringing one hand up, he touched his cheek. Somehow it felt strange feeling his own warm, damp flesh. He ran the hand across his cheek and to his forehead before bringing it in front of him, taking a moment to study his own hand. It was a quick revelation. The last thing he remembered was completed his focus and going into crystal stasis. Now he was sitting here, staring at his own flesh. There was only one logical conclusion; he had awoken from the eternal slumber of crystal stasis. But why?

Looking up, he took a moment to study his surroundings. He was atop of what he could only assume was a fountain. He was perched on a small platform, one just large enough to support his, and his crystal's, weight. This platform rose about a meter above a larger circular basin that had been built part-way into the wall.

This fountain itself was part of a larger room that seemed to stretch like a football stadium to either side. A ray of light was shining down from the ceiling. When Hope looked up, he realized it was coming from a place where the ceiling had caved in.

Below him, the fountain emptied into a water way that stretched all around the room. In total, there seemed to be 8 identical fountains, 4 on each side of the room. All of them were bone dry. It looked like they hadn't worked in ages.

The room itself was in disarray. The floor was covered in debris that had fallen from the structure that towered over it. Stone, metal, and shards of broken glass all lay scattered about amongst dirt, leaves, and other organic material coating the floor like a carpet. In several locations, there were even a few young looking trees growing out of places where the floor had crumbled away completely.

Hope wasn't sure what to make of this all. Where was he? It wasn't where he had entered crystal stasis. That much he was sure of.

He remembered going into crystal stasis well enough. He could recalled the purge, his own branding as a l'cie, and the physical and emotional struggle that followed. Particularly fresh in his mind was that final battle in Orphan's Cradle. He could still remember the surge of magic that pulsed through his body as he desperately fought to keep his companions alive.

His companions...where were they now? He could picture them quite clearly in his mind: Fang, with her sassy attitude and her protective streak towards Vanille; Vanille, with her playful demeanor and often all-too-random hugs; Sazh, with the fatherly advice his own father had never been around to give; Snow, who at first had been the target of his grief, but had turned out not to be such a bad guy; and, of course, Lightning, whose cold outer demeanor held a softer side, a side she had shown with her promise to protect him.

Most of all, though, he remembered his mother's death. It still pained him. Though he had been in crystal stasis, her death was still fresh on his mind. There was a heavy feeling in his heart as he sat there, thinking about her. She had been the only stability in his life. His entire ordeal had started with her being snatched out of his grasp. Without her, he had been left with nobody.

Of course, Lightning, Snow, and everyone else he had journeyed with had changed that. Where they were now though, was, again, something he couldn't answer.

Then, of course, there was that dream. The faces of his companions hadn't been that remarkable. He didn't know what to make, however, of what had come after. That transformation...and the beast...it reminded him of Ragnarok. Only problem was, he had clearly seen himself going through such a transformation.

Then it dawned on him _—_ his brand!

Sitting up, he reached down to his left arm and hastily drew back the cloth that had been there. The sight before him caused his breath to catch in his throat. The brand had retreated some from when he had last looked at it, but it was still there; thick black lines crisscrossed across his arm to form the design he was all too familiar with. Hope gritted his teeth, trying to hold back the feeling of anguish that threatened to wash over him. Did this mean he had awoken from crystal stasis with another focus? But if that was the case, there was a very real possibility that that dream had been a vision related to his focus.

The sudden sound of something scrapping against the floor snapped him out of his musing. His heart skipped a beat and he was on his feet and reaching for his boomerang in an instant. It was still where he kept it; the smooth contour of the weapon was comfortingly familiar. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw movement. He twisted his head in that direction but all that met him was the absolute stillness of the room. A chill ran down his spine.

Still, he wasn't going ignore what had just happened. Jumping off the platform, he took a defensive stance as he scanned the room before him. Though he looked ready to try and defend against an attack, in reality, he was scared breathless. He didn't know where he was but if there were enemies of any type, he wasn't going to fare very well against them on his own.

Luckily, he was met with silence. If there had been anybody _—_ or anything _— _here before, there wasn't any sign of it now. Still, Hope knew better than to call out. A primal instinct to survive had taken over.

Cautiously, he took a step to the side. Chances were, whatever had made that sound, it wasn't friendly. He was alert and vigilant as he picked his way through the rubble, hugging the wall as closely as he could. He tried to keep his eye on both sides of the room. Getting caught from behind was a very real possibility and Hope didn't want to take any chances.

Despite his caution, it took him by surprise when he suddenly found that the solid support of the wall behind him had vanished. He couldn't help but let out a small yelp of surprise as he went tumbling backwards, falling smack dab into the dirt. For a moment, all he could focus on was the rapid beating of his heart and the fact that he had only fallen. When his vision refocused, he found himself staring up at a cloudless blue sky. Bringing himself up into a sitting position, he was met with the sight of a hole in the wall. '___That would explain why I fell backwards,_' he thought to himself, feeling rather sheepish.

When he turned around, the sight that greeted him left him breathless. He was in a city. Much like the inside of the building, however, the city that lay before him was in a state of ruin and decay. Skyscrapers towered above, looking like overgrown construction sites. Much of their original structure had been stripped away, leaving a rusty over-grown frame.

The smaller buildings mirrored their larger counter parts, but were far more disorderly. Vines climbed up the sides of walls, pushing through broken windows as they reached for the sun. In the streets, a large portion of the pavement had crumbled away, trees and smaller vegetation growing like wildfire in its wake.

It reminded him a lot of the ruins they had wandered across on pulse. This, though, looked far more recent, yet far more overgrown. There was also something about it that seemed less foreign than a pulse city. Even under the ruin, he could see somewhat of a stylistic difference, though something about it still screamed 'Pulse'.

Whatever this place was, Hope didn't have time to think about it as a sudden sharp pain shot through his leg. Looking down, his eyes widened. Something had cut right through his pant leg and it was now slowly being soaked a crimson red. Taking the bottom of his pant leg in hand and pulling it up, he winced. There was a gash down his leg and it didn't look good.

Hope wasn't sure what caused the wound. It must have happened when he had fallen. As he looked at it, a thought occurred to him. '___If i'm a l'cie, I should still be able to use magic... right?_' It certainly wouldn't hurt to try. Wincing slightly as he put his hand against the bare bleeding skin of his leg, he reached into himself, searching for his own pool of magic. For some reason, though, he couldn't find it. This left him feeling confused. If he was a l'cie, he had to have magic. Why, then, was he unable to access it?

He continued searching within himself for the magic that would help him, but no matter how much he looked, there didn't appear to be anything remotely magical inside him. With no results, and a more urgent matter to address, he gave up his search and turned his focus to treating his wound.

Stripping himself of his jacket, he took off the bandana that hugged his neck. He hated to ruin it but he needed something to stem the flow of blood. Tenderly, he wrapped it around his leg, wincing at the pain that came with putting pressure on the wound. Once he had it around his leg, he tied it into a knot. It wasn't practical, by any means, but it would serve its purpose.

After putting his jacket back on, he brought himself to a standing position. He couldn't help but scowl at the pain that shot through his injured leg as he put weight on it. For now, though, he had to deal with it. '___It's what Lightning would do,_' he told himself.

'_Lightning..._' Hope's thoughts wandering back to his friends. He couldn't help but wonder where they were. Were they still in crystal stasis? Or perhaps they had awoken the same time as him, but somewhere else. Maybe everyone's crystals had been separated. That would explain why he had woken up by himself in an unknown location.

Still, as he considered this, another possibility suddenly entered his mind. Maybe, for some reason, they had awoken from crystal stasis and he hadn't. The idea spooked him. It would also explain why he had woken up alone. At the same time, it meant the possibility that all the people he knew were back in crystal stasis. Or even worse – dead. A feeling of dread filled his chest with that last thought. It was an idea he didn't want to entertain. Not now.

Still, the uncertainty nagged at him. A feeling of apprehension filled his stomach. _'No! They can't be dead...'_

His mind flashed back to his vision – all those dismembered bodies – and again, a feeling of bile rose in his throat. His vision swam and, before he knew it, he was on his knees, his entire body shaking. The realization hit him like a brick. He thought about his promise with Lightning – that promise to protect him – to look after him when no one else would. But what was a promise if she was dead? The world didn't care about promises. Reality wasn't going to bend to his will so she could keep it. One wrong move – one bad circumstance – and it wouldn't matter; the possibility of keeping such a promise could easily be torn away – rendered impossible by chance.

In the end though, it wasn't as much about keeping a promise as it was about being alone. As things were now, Hope was alone; not just alone in that he had nobody to watch his back either. He was a 14 year old boy with nobody that he could rely on for emotional support. The mother that had once filled such a role was gone. As a l'cie, his friends, Lightning in particular, had come to fill the empty spot in his heart his mother's death had left behind. Now, though, he was again by himself. He had no idea where his friends were. For now, and perhaps forever, he was completely on his own and it was the possibility that it was forever, more than anything else, that terrified him.

It was hard to say how long Hope sat there, fighting with his own fears. What finally pulled him out of it was a sudden grating screech followed by a loud crash.

Just like that, Hope pulled his attention to his surroundings, his eyes widened in alarm. Again, his primitive survival instincts took over, bringing him into a state of readiness for a fight-or-flight response. Gripping his boomerang, he surveyed his surroundings, looking for whatever it was that had made the noise. This time, he found a source; a large steel girder, under the weight of time and gravity, had come loose from its frame and fallen to the ground. It was sticking out of the roof of an automobile at an irregular angle.

It had only been noise. None-the-less, it snapped Hope out of his state of despair long enough to realize that he didn't have time to focus on the what-ifs. His instincts – his fears – were telling him that if he wanted to survive, he had to focus on the present.

Hope, though, wasn't exactly sure what what to do now. There were so many questions that needed answering: Where was he? Where were his friends? What was his focus? Why couldn't he use magic? Where was he even going to start? It was all rather overwhelming to think about.

The question of where to start, however was answered by a sudden rumbling in his bladder. '___Well...I guess I could start there,_' he thought, feeling suddenly sheepish as he glanced down at his pelvis.

* * *

It wasn't like Hope wasn't used to answering the call of nature...well...in nature. It was something he had learned to do fast and efficiently while being a l'cie on the run. What unnerved him more than anything else was the fact that he was doing it in the middle of a city. Sure it was abandoned. But, to him, it was still a city. It somehow felt disrespectful to whoever had lived here before to just take a leak in the middle of what remained of the pavement.

Luckily, it hadn't taken him long to find a bathroom in which he could take care of it. Sure, the toilet bowls were bone dry, the doors were off their hinges, the mirror was shattered, and half the ceiling had caved in. Hope, however, hadn't let the state of the bathroom deter him.

He peeked into the stall before taking a step in and positioning himself in front of the toilet. Unbuttoning the first two buttons of his pants and pulling down his boxers, he exhaled and let his body do its work.

He tried to relax – tried not to think about his surroundings. The more he thought about where he was, the harder he found it to get his business done. There was a sense of paranoia about this place; a feeling that something wasn't quite right that made using the bathroom in this manner rather uncomfortable. Then again, he hadn't used the bathroom in who knows how long and his body seemed to understand this. It wasn't long before he felt the pressure on his bladder easing up.

Despite his paranoia, he didn't hear the trod of footsteps — didn't noticed the shadow behind him — until he felt an unpleasantly warm breeze on his backside. Turning around, though, he quickly found it wasn't a breeze; Rather, it was the breath of a reptilian quadruped with a row of spiny protrusions going down its back – a gorgonopsid, as Hope recalled – and it was blocking his only means of escape.

Without a moments hesitation, the gorgonopsid lunged towards him. Hope let out a yelp of surprise, his hand automatically reaching for his boomerang and bringing it up before him in a defensive stance. As the monster's jaws snapped together, the boomerang becoming wedged between its upper and lower jaw. The impact, however, still sent Hope sprawling against the wall, leaving him dazed.

The monster swung its head back and forth in distress, momentarily distracted by the boomerang wedged in its mouth. Though the beast had him pinned to the wall, a claw on either side of him, there was still a gap between Hope and the creature's body. With the distraction of the boomerang, Hope had a few precious moments to make an escape. He did just this. Though he still felt dazed, Hope managed to slide under the beast, crawl between its two left legs, and roll through the gap between the floor and the wall that separated his stall from the next.

Hope took a moment to pull up his pants. He could feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest. He had narrowly avoided death. Still, he didn't have time to ponder this as a sudden knocking on the side of the stall reminded him that he was still in immediate danger. Pulling himself off the ground, he left the door-less stall and made a run for the exit.

Grabbing the handle of the door, he swung it open. The sight that met him caused his blood to run cold; standing there before him was a second gorgonopsid. He recalled vaguely that gorgonopsids were creatures that hunted in pack. He didn't, however, have time to ponder this as the beast lunged at him. He barely twisted out of the way as it snapped its fiendish jaws at him.

Hopes heart was hammering in his chest. He knew he was in grave danger. He had to get out of here! He backed away, glancing frantically around him, looking for some sort of escape. Then he heard a snarl. Whipping around, he found himself staring into the small beady eyes of his first assailant. The creature had managed to get the weapon out from between its jaws, and was now out of the stall and slinking towards him.

Taking a step back, Hope watched as the two beasts circled around him, sizing him up as they prepared to make a kill. Weaponless, and now completely defenseless, Hope could only watch with growing terror as they moved in, drawing closer and closer with each step.

Before the beasts could make a move, however, the roar of ammunition being discharged from the barrel of a gun shattered filled the air. Both gorgonopsids let out a snarl and turned to the source of the noise. In an instant, a woman was upon them, thrusting a blade into the shoulder of the first one.

As Hope looked up, his bright teal eyes met with a pair of pale blue ones. It didn't take him long to realize who she was. One glance at her light pink hair and her lithe yet sturdy figure told Hope all he needed to know; Lightning had come to his rescue.

The brief moment their eyes met, however, left an opening for the other beast. It launched itself towards her. Hope opened his mouth to let out a warning cry but Lightning seemed to already know what was coming her way.

Ducking under the creature, the former soldier drew back her weapon. As the beast sailed over her, she plunged the blade straight into its belly. The result was the sword slicing right down the middle of the monster's underside. It was over in a split second — the beast was dead before it hit the floor.

The second monster tossed its head in obvious pain. Lightning turned to face the beast as it, too, charged towards her, claws outstretched. The former soldier easily moved out of the way. As it skidded across the floor, attempting to turn itself around, Lightning launched herself towards the monster, lifting up her sword and bringing it down on top of the creature. With several straight clean slices from her blade, the beast let out a shudder before dropping to the ground.

With the two gorgonopsids defeated, Lightning wiped the blood off her blade before folding it up and sliding it back into its case. She was sweating lightly but there wasn't a scratch on her. As Hope stood there, looking at her in mild awe, she turned to him. Again, their eyes met. "Are you okay?" Lightning asked, her voice characteristically void of emotion. Only the slightest hint of worry in her eyes suggested that she was genuinely concerned.

Hope didn't notice any coldness. Just having her here — in person — made his heart leap. Instead of answering with words, he launched himself towards her, throwing his arms around her waist in a warm and welcoming embrace.

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******Well...don't have much to say about this chapter. Comments, critique, or reviews of any sort are welcome. It's always nice to know what you guys think about what i'm writing.**


	2. Chapter 2

**2/7/2013: I went back through this chapter and fixed it to the best of my abilities. I've taken into account some of the reviews on this chapter – mostly on Lightning's character – and have changed it accordingly. For the most part, though, it is the same as before. Enjoy!**

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Chapter 2

For some reason, it took Lightning by surprise when Hope suddenly threw himself against her. It wasn't so much the fact that it was Hope; Lightning had to admit, she had developed a rather peculiar fondness for this boy. More so, it was the fact that she wasn't used to such intimate physical contact. It was something that she had given up along with her real name. Sure, she had tolerated some physical contact from her sister. Her sister, after all, was her sister. Even then, though, the amount she had allowed had waned over the years.

Regardless, Lightning didn't push him away now. She let him hug her because...well...to be honest, not even she had the heart to push him away. Perhaps it was the part that had grown fond of this boy that was talking, but she couldn't bring herself to perform the necessary actions to put a more comfortable distance between them.

As he clung to her, she heard a muffled sob. Looking down at Hope, she felt a bit lost. She had never really played the maternal role very well for Serah. For a moment, she hesitated; then, in a stiff, almost awkward manner, she brought one arm up and laid it across the boys back, giving him several reassuring pats. Hope seemed to take comfort in the gesture as his body relaxed against her. After several minutes, his whimpers died into silence.

It was with this silence that Lightning finally drew back. Taking Hope by the shoulders, she leaned down so that she was eye level with him. "Are you okay now?" she asked, a serious yet gentle expression on her face.

Hope returned the look with a serious one of his own and nodded. He felt a little embarrassed that he had fallen apart so quickly over something so small. He should have been able to handle the situation better than that. He had been so scared though _—_ so scared that he was on his own. He had tried to suppress his fears. Yet, it was like the second it was all over, the feelings had come bursting out on their own accord.

"Good," Lightning said, patting him on the shoulder before drawing herself up to her full height. Hope had so many questions for her. Where were they? Where had she been? When had she awoken from crystal stasis? Before he could open his mouth, though, Lightning spoke. "You should probably get your weapon," she said, glancing over at the bathroom stall.

"Right," Hope said, looking in the same direction. The weapon appeared to have been spit out on the floor next to the toilet. As Hope went to pick it up, he couldn't help but feel slightly disgusted at the clear sticky saliva that coated his boomerang. Gorgonopsids certainly had a lot of drool.

"What happened to your leg?"

The sudden question caught Hope by surprise. Turning around, he found Lightning sitting on the counter, her arms laid across her chest as she studied him.

"It's nothing," Hope said, feeling somewhat bashful under her gaze.

"Doesn't look like nothing," Lightning replied, pushing herself off the counter and walking straight over to him. Leaning down, she took the bandana in her hand. Hope flinched slightly but didn't turn away. Lightning untied it and pulled it down a little too roughly for his liking. She took a moment to study the cut. Hope couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking. Then, she handed the bandana to him. Reaching into her pouch, she pulled out a water bottle and handed it to him as well. "It needs to be cleaned", she said _— _or more like demanded. Her voice was calm and even, yet there was an authority to it that let Hope know she meant business.

Still, Hope opened his mouth to protest. "Don't we need water for drinking?"

"We can always find more," Lightning replied, her tone leaving no room for argument. "We can't have this getting infected".

Hope closed his mouth and nodded. His bandana had a large blood stain on it but, sitting down, he took a clean part, opened the water bottle, put the bandana over the mouth, tilted it back, and wetted it. Then, under Lightning's scrutinizing gaze, he began to clean the wound.

When he was done, she nodded in approval. Something about having to get Lightning's approval for the condition of his wound made him feel embarrassed _—_ like she thought he was too much of a kid to figure out how to clean his own cuts. Still, something about her approval also felt good.

With the wound clean, he proceeded to wrap the bandana back around. Before he could do it, though, Lightning grabbed his wrist, shaking her head gently. Hope was confused until she pulled some gauze and cotton out of her bag."Hold still," she commanded. Hope obeyed and she set to work on bandaging up his leg.

"Thanks," Hope murmured, holding as still as possible for her.

Lightning let out a grunt to acknowledge that she had heard him and a silence fell over the two of them as she worked. It wasn't an awkward or unpleasant silence. Still, as she bandaged him up, Hope couldn't help but notice something seemed...off about Lightning. He wasn't exactly sure what it was. Perhaps it was body language _— _things like the way she held herself or her subtle facial expressions _—_ because, on the surface, she seemed fine. She didn't look particularly happy but Hope couldn't really think of many times in the course of his relationship with Lightning that she had. Something, though, in particular, seemed to be bothering her.

As she finished patching him up and proceeded to stand, Hope grabbed her by the arm. She shot him an annoyed, somewhat questioning, look. None-the-less, she didn't wrench her arm from his grasp. Realizing she was waiting for an explanation, Hope spoke up.

"Light...ah...are you okay?" he said, suddenly feeling timid under her gaze.

"Yeah i'm fine," Lightning replied, her expression revealing little emotion, though there was a hint of annoyance there. She gently grabbed his wrist and moved his hand off her arm.

Hope studied her. She looked uncomfortable and, despite her answer, he had a feeling there was something she wasn't telling him. "Lightning," he said, giving her a determined look. Lightning narrowed her eyes at him, causing Hope to hesitate. When he realized, though, that she was still waiting for him to say something, he continued. "I...I know there's something wrong," he murmured, looking straight into her eyes – signaling that he wasn't going to let it go so easily.

Lightning looked visibly irritated at his pushing. "Why do you think something is wrong?" she asked. She spoke in a calm uniform manner. Still, her voice was laced with a bitterness that caused him to shrink away.

Hope didn't want to push her. At the same time, she seemed upset. In his mind, he began to go over the things that could possibly make her upset. Then, rather abruptly, it dawned on him. "Light...are you alone? Are any of the others with you? Do you...know where Serah is?"

Lightning visibly flinched at the mention of her sister's name.

She didn't have to say anything else. Hope wasn't so sure what had taken him so long to ask himself whether or not Lightning was alone. It should have been one of the first things he had asked her. "Light, i'm sorry I-" Hope started.

Lightning, shook her head. "Don't," she said, closing her eyes as she held up a hand to him, signaling that she didn't want to hear any more. She still sounded somewhat angry, but it was far less harsh than her previous words. More so, she just sounded... miserable.

It wasn't hard to put the pieces together. Like him, Lightning had woken up alone. She had woken up alone after nearly bringing down Cocoon to be reunited with her sister. To go so far and come to close, only to have what she was aiming for pulled out of her grasp... it must have felt awful. Hope wasn't entirely sure what he could say to comfort her. Still, he felt like he had to say something.

"She's probably still alive," he murmured softly, looking up at Lightning. "I mean...you came this far. The fact that we found each other___-_".

"Hope," Lightning interrupted, putting her head into the palm of her hand. Again Hope fell silent. For a moment there was an awkward silence as Lightning struggling with a way to explain things to Hope without losing her temper. Finally, she sighed. "I know your just trying to help but...I don't need this right now".

Hope hung his head, feeling bad. He ___had _only wanted to help. In the end, though, it seemed like he was only making things worse. "Then...what do you need?" he mumbled softly, unable to bring himself to look at her.

There was a pause from Lightning before she spoke. "I just need some space..."

* * *

Dusk had fallen across the ruined city. The two were sitting in the building Hope had first awoken in. Between them they had built a fire. Now the two of them sat across from each other. Lightning still didn't want to talk so a silence had fallen over the two, permeated only by the crackle of the fire and the occasional chirp of a crepuscular insect.

Hope had spend most the day following Lightning around as she searched for any clues to the other's whereabouts. In the end, the search had turned up nothing and Lightning had called it a day. Hope had a creeping feeling that, if it wasn't for him, she would still be out there. At the same time, he was thankful for the break. Though he had built up some stamina from their journey, he still had nothing on Lightning.

Though Hope hated to admit it, he had been near useless without his magic. Sure, he managed to knock off a monster or two they had come across. In the end, though, Lightning with her gun blade had done most the fighting. If Lightning had magic, she hadn't used it. She hadn't said it directly but Hope could only assume that she, like him, couldn't use it. Still, even without magic, she was a formidable opponent.

He recalled the Silver Lobo she had taken down today. The beast loomed clear in his mind: a carnivorous quadruped with a white mane, beady yellow eyes, and a jaw lined with razor-sharp teeth. It had been a risky battle; They had been cornered. Low on antidotes and put up against an enemy with virulent breath it was a risky battle. None-the-less, Lightning handled the battle as calmly and as gracefully as if it had been a simple training exercise, quickly staggered the beast and bringing an end to its life with a slice to the neck. It seemed even these monsters had predictable anatomy. They might have been beasts with a killing instinct but they could still be taken down with a vital blow to an internal function.

He supposed all the training they had done had come in handy, though he hoped that the fact that he too had been throwing his boomerang at the beast's head had helped. It had certainly proved enough of a distraction that the beast had trouble focusing on which one of them it wanted to slaughter. Still, in the end, while he had been left sitting on the ground, feeling shaken, Lightning had simply wiped the gore off her blade and offered him a hand.

The actual search had felt like slogging through mud. He had just been following, unsure exactly how Lightning was going about doing the searching, considering that they had nothing to go on. Still, every corner they had gone around _—_ every building they had checked _—_ just seemed to turn up nothing but monsters. They had tried to go undetected when they could, but, like in the case of the Silver Lobo, where they had been cornered, fights had ensued.

Now, as Hope looked across the fire, he could see the soft glow of Lightning's face in light of the flames. She looked gentle, almost tame, as she dozed slightly, her eyelids fluttering open from time to time.

Despite their constant interaction throughout the day, Lightning had barely said a word to him, something that bothered Hope. He had respected her request for space. Still, Hope had many questions he wanted to ask. Did Lightning also have a focus? Something about asking her if she had checked her brand felt...awkward. He knew where it was. He had seen its glowing outline from under her shirt upon her defeat of Odin. At the same time, Hope needed to know.

"Light," called out softly.

Lightning immediately stirred, sitting up to look at him. Hope couldn't help but wonder if Lightning really had been dozing off. She gave him a questioning look.

"I know you said you wanted space but...I really think we need to talk about stuff."

Lightning looked suspicious but nodded. Hope took that as a signal to continue.

"When you awoke from crystal stasis, did you...well...you know...check your brand?" Hope felt a blush creeping onto his face at the question.

Hope was met with silence and, for a moment, he was scared that he done something wrong. Lightning, though, sat up, a hint of curiosity in her eyes. "Why do you ask?"

Hope was taken aback by the question. He wasn't exactly sure how to explain the dream he had had. "Well, um..." he started. Then, before he knew it, his entire story came spilling out: his dream, awakening from crystal stasis, discovering his brand, and the shock at finding out he couldn't use magic. He omitted the part about his melt down, mostly because he was still embarrassed about how he had broken down upon being reunited with Lightning.

Lightning, though, seemed to listen patiently; granted, if she was reacting in any way to what he said, she didn't show it. The same slightly inquisitive yet serious expression remained on her face through the entire story, only broken by an occasional twitch at the corner of her eyes or lips, which Hope guessed was the closest she came to showing any reaction as he spoke.

When he was done, he looked expectantly at Lightning, waiting to hear what she had to say about it.

Lightning though, just closed her eyes. She looked...exhausted. When, after several uncomfortable seconds, she finally spoke, it wasn't what Hope had wanted to hear. "I think it's safe to say we have a new focus."

Hope felt his heart sinking. So they both had the same dream? But...did that mean he was supposed to transform into that...thing?

"What about your brand?" Hope asked softly, his gaze wandering to the ground.

Lightning didn't answer, and she didn't need to answer. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Lightning bringing her hand up to her chest, resting it lightly above the location of her brand. As he brought his gaze up to hers, he could see the look in her eyes. They held a solemn sadness that was all the confirmation he needed.

They had both been awoken from their crystal slumber with a purpose.

* * *

Hope awoke the next morning to the sun shining down through that gap in the roof. Sitting up, he stretched his arms. His back felt awfully stiff.

The rest of last evening had been spent in silence. Hope had fallen asleep contemplating the many mysteries of their situation. Most of all, though, he had contemplated the meaning of the dream.

It didn't make sense. It meant he was going to turn into a beast right? But...why? Why did it show him killing all those people? Was that his focus? Was it what he and Lightning were supposed to make happen? For what purpose? It didn't make sense at all.

Now though, in the light of day, he found himself scanning the room in which they had holed up for the night. "Light?" he called out. Lightning was nowhere to be seen and, for a moment, Hope felt his heart racing. Had she left without him?

The sudden crunching sound of boots on loose sediment caused him to turn around. There was an immediate sense of relief as he saw Lightning, entering back in through the hole in the wall. She was carrying several strange looking objects. It took Hope a moment to realize they must have come from a plant.

"You're finally awake," Lightning said, not a single hint of emotion in her voice as she dropped the objects in front of him. They were rounded and green with a rough spiny surface. Hope watched as Lightning proceeding to slice into one with her gunblade. As the two sides fell apart, he saw that the inside was an electric blue.

"Are we eating this?" Hope asked, looking inquisitively at what he had finally concluded was a fruit.

Lightning gave him a brief look, but didn't answer. Instead, she picked up one half of the fruit and bit into it, turning away from him as if she wanted to be alone.

Hope felt taken aback. Had he said something wrong? It seemed like Lightning had been acting distant, and in some cases bitter, since they had awoke. He had this vague sense that she must have been hurting. All the same, he felt somewhat dejected by her behavior.

Still, he followed her example. Picking up one of the fruit halfs, he bit into it. It was rather sour and filled with small rounded seeds, but it also had this tang of sweetness that didn't make it entirely unpleasant. Besides, as Hope finished the first fruit, he realized he hadn't eaten since...well, since he had awoken from crystal stasis. He was happy to find that Lightning had already sliced open the other two. He bit into the second one without question.

As they finished eating there was this gnawing sensation at the back of his stomach that told him he was still hungry. None-the-less, as, Lightning stood up, Hope followed suit. Hunger was something he had grown used to in their exile as l'cie. It was something he could deal with.

Hope looked expectantly to Lightning, hoping she would at least have something to say on where they were heading next. As Lightning walked towards the hole in the wall, though, Hope found his gaze wandering back to the fire. It had burnt down to charcoal. Still, an instinct deep inside Hope told him to put it out all the way. Perhaps it was left over from their time as being outlaws. Whenever they had made a fire, they had always smothered it out all the way to decrease the chances of it ever being founded. He wasn't sure if it was needed now. All the same, there wouldn't be any harm in doing it.

As he put his foot down over the coal and began to smother out the last of the embers something caught his eye. Last night in the dark, Lightning had hacked away the brush to create a space for them to rest. Now, though, in the light, Hope saw something under the charred remains of wood.

"Hope! Are you coming?" Hope heard Lightning call out from behind him.

Hope barely heard her. As he pushed away the charcoal, what he saw caused his breath to catch in his throat. "Light," he called to her, staring at the stone floor. "I think you should come look at this."

Lightning didn't say anything but he heard the sound of loose sediment crunching under her boots as she came up behind him.

Brushing the rest of the ash away with the tip of his shoe, Hope left the stone below exposed, and with it, the message that had been carved into the cracked, slightly eroded, floor.

___Hey sis! If you're reading this, were probably not here. Serah and I are heading to Oerba, but we'll meet again soon. You can trust your hero on this one!_

___-Snow_


	3. Chapter 3

******AN: Hey again! First of all, I want to thank you guys for the reviews, favs, and follows. It always give me a little extra motivation to know somebody is reading this and enjoying it! c:**

******Second of all, i'm quite happy to not only have this chapter up a little sooner than my last one, but to also have it be a bit longer than my previous two. Enjoy**!

**4/4/2013 Edit: I went back and corrected a lot of the grammar errors in this one. Hopefully it should flow a little more smoothly and be a bit easier to read.**

* * *

Chapter 3

Not even Lightning could hide her surprise at the discovery. She stood there for several minutes, blinking as she read and reread the message.

Serah was alive; Or at least had been alive. She pursed her lips as she stood there, trying to hold back the feeling of frustration that threatened to wash over her. This message didn't tell her anything. Serah could be anywhere now: She could still be in Oerba; She could be a cie'th; She could be dead. The message might not have even been written by Snow, though it certainly did sound like him.

There was no telling how old the message was either. It had been overgrown and obscured by foliage, which would explain why they had almost not discovered it. At the same time, it was difficult to say just how fast whatever plant they had hacked away to uncover it had grown. It could have been months; It could have been years. As much as Lightning hated to entertain the thought, it could have even been centuries.

At least it told them one thing – some time had passed since they had gone into crystal stasis. Still, it left even more questions unanswered; questions like why they had decided to go to Oerba for one.

Hope watched as Lightning leaned down, tracing her fingers across the indentation of the letters. He stood silently off to the side, unsure what to make of the situation himself. It had been a lucky find. All the same, Lightning didn't seem to be any less upset than she had been before.

"Light," Hope murmured softly, his footsteps echoing off the hard concrete as he walked up from behind, his gloomy expression and downtrodden posture suggesting that, in a way, he was feeling just as frustrated as her. When he attempted to put a hand on her shoulder – to show her comfort of some sort – she instantly shrank away. He was rather taken aback by the glare she shot him.

"I'm sorry Lightning I didn't mean to..." Hope started, his heart racing as he tried to explain himself.

Lightning sighed and for a moment, Hope could see past the front she put on to how vulnerable and exhausted she really was feeling. Just as quickly as the vulnerable part of her had shown itself, however, it was gone, once again replaced by the hardened expression of a soldier. "Let's just go," she announced, standing up and walking right past him without another word.

All Hope could do was tag along.

* * *

Hope had been under the impression that they were heading for Oerba, so when Lightning stopped at the base of a mammoth looking building, Hope was slightly confused. It looked like an administrative building of some sort. It had a large base with a tower that stretched too many stories high for Hope to count. Like the rest of the city, it was overgrown with plant life.

When Lightning jumped into a nearby automobile and used it as leverage to get to the first floor, the only thing Hope could do was follow.

Were Lighting's intentions to climb this building? While the state of ruin it was in created more foot holds, it also made the building unstable. Hope honestly hoped Lightning still had her grav-con unit on her.

It soon became apparent that she was, indeed, intending to scale this structure. As they climbed upward, Hope struggled, to a certain extent, to keep up. Still, as Lightning labored on, Hope followed suit, arduously bringing one foot over the other. His breath was soon heavy, a thin layer of perspiration coating his body.

He was thankful when Lightning stopped to rest. At this level, the wall of the building had pretty much fallen away, leaving an open floor. It seemed a layer of top-soil had managed to make its way here, though exactly how was a mystery. A forest had started to sprout out of the remains of desks and office chairs. At least at this height an ever steady breeze was blowing, something Hope was thankful for in the heat of the mid-morning sun.

As Hope pulled himself over the ledge, he found Lightning sitting there, waiting patiently for him. "Here," she said, tossing him a water bottle as he took a seat next to her.

Hope let out a surprised squeak, fumbling with the bottle as he caught it. He looked to Lightning and she glanced back at him, raising an eyebrow. "Thanks, Lightning," he said after a moment, the corners of his lips curving upward ever so slightly. He knew she was just being practical, but after this morning's cold shoulder, he was thankful for the gesture.

Unscrewing the lid, he took a long satisfying drink, gulping down nearly half the contents of the bottle in one sip. After wiping away the stream of water that dribbled down his chin with the back of his hand, he turned his gaze outward.

From where they were, Hope noted that they could see quite a distance across the city. It stretched before them like some sort of bizarre forest, a sea of concrete and metal clashing against the green and browns of nature as it tried to reclaim the land.

As his gaze turned upward, Hope noticed, for the first time, the crystallized remain of cocoon. It was the confirmation he need to figure out that they were, indeed, on pulse. It was somehow comforting to see the familiar landmark. The floating continent somehow looked distant. In the haze of the atmosphere and the light of the morning sun, it was like a floating iceberg, bathed in a soft gentle hue of whites, purples, and blues.

Glancing back at Lightning, he saw that she was gazing out into the landscape as well. She, though, seemed to be scanning it more so than looking, her light blue irises moving from side to side, transfixed on the ground below them.

It suddenly occurred to Hope what they were doing up here. From up here, they could easily scout the landscape. Lightning was trying to get a bearing on their surroundings!

Again, Hope wondered why he hadn't thought to do that. '___No wonder Lightning is the leader between us,' _he thought to himself, his eyes on the former soldier. Perhaps he had become so used to Lightning's guidance, he had forgotten how to do things for himself. '___I'll have to change that..._' he thought, a feeling of shame creeping into his chest. He already felt like enough of a burden already. But...how could he help? Lightning hadn't been very...communicative. If she wanted his help for anything, she wasn't showing it.

"What?"

It was Lightnings voice. Hope blinked, his gaze meeting Lightning's own questioning one. He had gotten so caught up in his thoughts, he hadn't really thought about what he had been doing. Now, though, seeing Lightning looking back at him, he realized he had been staring.

"It's nothing," he quickly responded, turning his head away to hide the creeping blush on his face. '___Ugh! Stupid! Why was I staring?_' he thought to himself. His cheeks burned with embarrassment. He kept his head turned away, his gaze trained, perhaps a little too intensely, on the landscape below.

The two spent the remainder of the break in an uneasy sort of silence. When Lightning finally stood up, announcing that the break was over, Hope still felt an uncomfortable awkwardness from having gotten caught unintentionally staring.

As they climbed the building higher and higher, more and more of the landscape was revealed to them. Hope could see the outer limits of the city now, and the wilderness that lay beyond. It appeared the city had been surrounded by a wall at some point. What was left of that wall, however, was breaking down, cracks rupturing its decaying surface – part of it crumbled away completely. Beyond the wall, he could see the shape of mountains and what looked like the banks of an ocean or perhaps a large lake.

It was difficult work trying to find footholds in what remained of the tower. Hope wondered how many stories this building had had in its life. With so much of it falling apart, it was hard to tell now. It must have been a very tall structure, considering how long it was taking them to climb it.

By the time they reached the top, the sun was well into the sky. It must have been approaching noon. Hope could certainly feel the heat getting to him. In this humid sub-tropical environment, such a climb had taken a toll on his strength

The top really wasn't much more than several long beams spanning the frame. They could have gone up further, but the instability of the building and the lack of footholds made doing so more of a risk than either of them really wanted to take; at least that's what Hope assumed. Lightning still hadn't communicated this directly but she seemed to want to stop here.

Hope reached up, taking hold of the final beam and attempted to haul himself up those last several feet. He had taken off his gloves at this point, the insides being too hot to wear in this weather, and perspiration had now made his hands slippery. He felt his fingers sliding against the metal. He dug in as hard as he could, grinding his teeth with the effort as he tried to hold on.

Suddenly, he felt a sturdy hand on his wrist. Looking up, he found himself staring, again, into the pale light blues of Lightning's irises. Lightning showed some surprising strength as she helped to pull Hope up onto the beam. Not that Hope was surprised at all by Lightning's physical prowess. What was surprising was more that she had the strength to help him as all, considering, again, the heat and the climb they had just undergone. Lightning still had so much energy in her. Though she too was sweating and there was even a hint of exhaustion in her features, she didn't seem to be anywhere close to the state of near collapse he himself had reached. His wounded leg hadn't helped matters either. Though it was better than yesterday, it still hurt when he put pressure on it, which considering all the climbing they were now doing, was almost constantly.

Hope rolled into his back, taking a moment to catch his breath. He was aware of the drop to either side. Still, he didn't really give it much thought until he sat up again. Hope wasn't sure how long the steel beam was but, across, it was only about 5 feet, and below him, the drop gave him a dizzying sense of vertigo. Everything below him looked so small and Hope couldn't stop his vision from swimming slightly as he backed away. Though he didn't want to admit he was scared of falling, he couldn't help but feel his chest constricting in a natural tension at being up so high.

As he sat down, he found that the water bottle had been left on the beam next to him. The contents, though, seemed to be just as full as they had been when he had last taken a sip. '___Is Lightning drinking any at all?_" he wondered to himself. Somehow, it seemed just like Lightning to go without water on a climb like this.

As he joined Lightning, who had made her way to the end of the beam, the view was magnificent. A whole landscape stretched before them. To one side, an endless field that seemed to go on as far as the eye could see. To the other side was the range of mountains he had noticed earlier, the body of water, which he could see now was not an ocean but, rather, a very large lake, tucked off to the side. Above the mountains rose the crystallized remains of the floating continent. They looked to be on the other side of the mountain range.

Interestingly enough, on the side that stretched into endless field, he could see something tall and unnatural-looking rising into the sky. It almost looked like...another city?

None of these, though, besides cocoon, were features he recognized. There was no Oerba, no Yaschas Massif, no Archylte Steppes, no...anything. They were on a part of pulse that was completely unfamiliar to him.

He could sense tension in Lightning as she scanned the landscape before them. There was this stiffness to her posture. She was tightly gripping the beam next to them, her jaw clenched and her shoulders raised. She might have been good at hiding her facial expressions, but her body language communicated her feelings in a way that was much harder to hide.

Once again, Hope wanted to reach out and put a hand on her shoulder – wanted to comfort her in some way. The image of her shrinking away angrily, however, and the way she told him that she wanted some space, flashed through his head, and he thought better of it. Instead, he simply cleared his throat, reaching the water bottle out to her. "Are you going to have any?" he asked.

Lightnings gaze briefly wandered to him but, like he had expected, she had nothing to say.

In silence, the two of them gazed out into the landscape. Hope could only think of one thing they could do now: walk towards the crystal skeleton that remained of their former home. Oerba would certainly be in that direction. How long that would take them, though, was a mystery. They didn't have all the time in the world. As Hope glanced at the cloth that hid his brand, he wondered if trying to find Serah was what they should really be doing. Pulling the cloth away, he noted that his brand hadn't seemed to advance any from when he had last looked at it. Still, it would advance. He knew it would, and, when it reached a certain point, it wouldn't matter whether or not they found Lightning's sister.

If Lightning, though, was worried about the advancement of their brands, she hadn't expressed it. Besides, unlike the whereabouts of Serah, they really had nothing to go on in regards to their focus. Perhaps it was best to just focus on what they could investigate rather than worry about what they didn't know.

"How far along is it?"

Again, Hope was caught off guard when he heard Lightning's voice. Glancing to her, he found she was also studying his brand, an unreadable expression on her face. There wasn't much warmth in the question. None-the-less, Hope was pleasantly surprised to hear her ask.

"Nothing much has really changed," Hope said glancing down at his own brand before bringing his eyes back to hers. "What about yours?"

"Not much," Lightning responded, bringing her own gaze back to the landscape before them.

Lightning fell silent after that and Hope figured she was done talking. He was rather surprised when he suddenly heard his name.

"Hope..."

Hope turned to find Lightning looking at him. "Yeah?" he said, an oddly pleasant feeling rising in his chest. She was wearing a hardened expression but...there was something about it that was different. There was a look of uncertainty. It was almost as if she was indecisive about something.

"As a soldier, we were always taught to prepare for the worst," she finally said after a moment pause, turning her gaze back to the city before her.

Hope blinked. What was Lightning trying to say? "But... we don't know that things will turn out the worst, do we?" Hope said after a moments pause himself.

"We don't know that they won't," she instantly responded, her tone suddenly much harsher than it had been before.

For a second, Hope felt taken back by her response. Lightning seemed perfectly calm, sitting there with the hardened expression of a warrior. Still, though he wasn't sure what it was, something about her seemed to suggest that, on the inside, she was swimming with turmoil.

"But...just because you've prepared for the worst," Hope murmured cautiously after giving it a moment of careful thought, "Doesn't mean you can't hope for the best, does it?"

There was no response and, for a moment, Hope thought that she had nothing else to say. "Hmm. I suppose so," she finally responded. Though the words themselves betrayed no emotion, a thoughtful look had crossed her features and, as they stood there together in silence, Hope couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking. He had this feeling there was something else she had wanted to say. Still, he wasn't going to press her on it. If it was something important, Lightning would tell him eventually.

At least he hoped she would.

* * *

After spending a better part of the afternoon fighting through monster-infested streets, they had finally arrived at the outer limits to the city. Hope wasn't sure exactly what destination Lightning had had in mind but now they were standing before what looked like a train station. A tunnel barred off by a tightly locked gate led into the darkness and out into what he guessed was the outside of the city. The station itself was tucked into an area below the street. A crumbling walkway descended down into what looked like had once been a bustling center of street vendors and activity. Now, an overturned food cart laid abandoned next to a deciduous tree thats roots had overtaken their original confinement, stretching out across the cracked and decaying sidewalk and onto the tracks themselves.

Though the sun had dipped low into the western horizon, having long since disappeared behind the wall that rose above them, Lightning didn't look like she was ready to stop for the night. Hope nearly crashed into her when she suddenly came to a halt.

"What is it?" Hope asked, stumbled back slightly, a look of confusion in his features.

"We need supplies," she announced.

Hope followed her gaze and found her looking at a shop. It was a tiny little establishment built into a corner of the station. The name of the shop, though, was something he recognized: Unicorn Mart.

The door was locked. Still, it didn't take more than breaking in a few window panes to get them inside.

As they entered the shop, Hope could see that what had once been a neat and orderly little business was now bursting with plant life. Of course, considering the rest of their surroundings, it wasn't something Hope was surprised to see. Still, something about the state of the shop was eerie. Despite all the vegetation and decaying organic material, products of all shapes and sized still lined the shelves It was almost as if the shop had been abandoned overnight.

Hope was somewhat surprised when he found Lightning leaning over the broken remains of a save station. Hope wasn't sure exactly what Lightning wanted with it. It wasn't in very good condition; It looked like a piece of junk. It couldn't possibly work...could it? As he watched Lightning do a bit of tampering, however, much to his surprise, there was a sudden click and the machine whirred to life. Hope had had no idea Lightning had any experience with electronics.

"How did you do that?" Hope asked, feeling a nagging curiosity in regards to the former soldier. She never seemed to stop surprising him.

Lightning wiped a bit of sweat off her brow but didn't answer. Hope frowned but let it go.

As Lightning typed away, he heard a low rumble in her throat followed by a soft noise that he soon realized was Lightning grinding her teeth. She certainly looked frustrated. "I don't understand any of this," Lightning muttered. As Hope came to her side to look at the monitor, he saw instantly what she meant. It was like no save station he had ever seen before. The set up and design was totally different from anything he was familiar with and the interface looked utterly alien. At least the language was familiar or at least some-what familiar. Some of the symbols looked a little odd and something about the syntax was off. Some of the words were foreign to him too.

"Maybe we should just look for something to eat," Hope suggested. It occurred to him that Lightning was possibly looking for information. It seemed, though, that they were getting nowhere. Besides, they really hadn't eaten all day and the lack of food, combined with the intense exercise, had left him feeling rather nauseated.

Lightning shook her head, letting out a sound of irritation. "Just give me a minute, Hope," she said.

"Okay," Hope murmured, regretting his suggestion.

While Lightning continued her tampering, Hope found himself browsing the shop shelves. It was different from the Unicorn Mart he was familiar with. Not that he had ever been to a Unicorn Mart in person. Still, it seemed that they had more products than were ever available over the retail network. On one side of the room, all kind of bizarre little nicknacks lines the shelves. One shelf held canned goods and other tightly sealed snacks. The other side of the room seemed to have more practical things: potions, antidotes, phoenix downs, etc. There was even a small collection of weapons locked tightly away in a display case.

Hope picked up one of the cans. The can looked slightly rusted and there was no label. None-the-less, he decided to brave the possibility of rotten food and see what was inside. Taking the can by its pull tab and tearing the lid away, he found himself staring at what looked like a strange sort of preserved fruit. There was no telling just how old it was. Still, it didn't look terrible. As a matter of fact, it actually smelled sort of sweet. Hope braved a taste. It wasn't any fruit he was familiar with but it didn't taste half bad. That part of him that was hungry was begging for more, and it didn't taking Hope long to finish the can.

For the next can he opened up, he wasn't so lucky. The second the contents went into his mouth, he went into a coughing fit and spat them right back out. It had smelled so-so but the taste had been absolutely vile.

"What is it?" Lightning asked as Hope came to her for their water bottle.

"Water," Hope gasped.

Lightning didn't look too pleased, but retrieved the water bottle for him anyway. They had already gone through it several times that day. They had discovered, however, that some of the lower parts of the city were inundated with water. With a little bit of iodine, it provided safe drinking water for both of them.

Once again, Hope greedily gulped down the contents, spitting on the floor as he tried to get the taste out of his mouth.

"What happened?" Lightning asked. She looked somewhat repulsed and, suddenly, Hope felt stupid for getting into those canned food.

"I was just trying food..." Hope muttered, feeling utterly embarrassed.

Lightning didn't scold him but the look of contempt she had given him before turning back to the save station was just as bad, if not worse. '___She thinks i'm an idiot,_' Hope thought, sliding down against the back of the counter and into a sitting position on the floor.

For a bit, he just sat there, staring glumly at the thorn-riddled vines that were pushing up through the cracks in the floor by his feet.

It wasn't until he heard the sound of the save station shutting down that he finally looked up. Lightning had pushed the computer to the side. "Here," she said, tossing a black knapsack at him.

When Hope returned Lightning's action with a questioning look, Lightning let out a sigh. "We need to gather supplies. Remember?" she said.

Hope wanted to ask Lightning if she had discovered anything, but as Lightning strode past him, he had to jump up to follow. Stopping at a door behind the counter, Lightning looked back at him. "Hope, you stay here and pack some of those up," Lightning said, gesturing to the potions and phoenix downs behind them. "I'm going to check the back room."

"Alright," Hope said, giving Lightning a nod to indicate that it was something he could handle.

"Stay away from the food," Lightning added as she turned back to the door, putting her hand on the handle before turning it and swinging the door open.

Again, a feeling of shame crept into his chest. It seemed like all he had been doing was embarrassing himself in front of Lightning since they had awoken.

As Hope began putting the potions and phoenix downs in his bag, he couldn't help but wonder if it was really okay to just take this stuff. When he thought what he was really considering, though, he couldn't help but cringe slightly. They had murdered psi-com officers. Though, he had to admit, it had been in self defense, compared to that, taking stuff from a shop that obviously hadn't seen customers in a very long time was nothing.

Suddenly, a shout brought him out of his thoughts. Instantly, his mind went to Lightning. Hope dropped his knapsack and rushed to the other room, a feeling of panic rising in his chest. The sight that met him caused his blood to run cold.

Lightning stood on one side of the room, her gun blade laying on the floor as she clutched a blood-soaked hand. On the other side of the room was a machine. It wasn't one Hope recognized. It had some features of the ones they had seen on pulse, yet, the smooth contours of the machine reminded him more of a cocoon droid. Unlike any droids Hope had seen, however, it had a rotating saw for a hand.

"Lightning!" Hope shouted. She was glaring at the machine, hunched over slightly as she held her hand, her face contorted in pain. As soon as he said her name, her gaze shot over to him.

"Hope what are you..." she hissed but was cut off as the machine lunged forward. Despite her attention being on Hope, she jumped back. Unfortunately, having left the gun blade on the ground, she was now unarmed, a fact she only realized as the machine began to head straight for her.

Her eyes panicked, she looked to Hope and then back to the gunblade. Following her eyes, Hope saw that she was unarmed. He hesitated for a second. Then, without thinking, he ducked forward, his right hand reaching out for Lightning's weapon. There was a grinding noise near his ears and he could feel the heat of burning metal as the saw missed his head by just a few inches. He found his hand closing around the solid metal handle, the feeling somewhat reassuring. He twisted his body away, keeping his eyes on the machine. A sudden thud against the back of his head, however, sent him sprawling very abruptly to the side.

"Hope!" he heard. He was suddenly staring up at the ceiling, vision was swimming before him. Or perhaps it was the floor. He was too disoriented to tell. His entire head felt like it was going to explode.

"Shit," Lightning gasped softly, staring at the machine. Lightning wasn't sure what had compelled Hope to run forward and attempt to retrieve her blade unarmed like that. She had watched as the machines swinging arms had caught him from behind, giving him a heavy knock to the head.

Lightning's own head was swimming and her limbs felt heavy, an intense stinging pain in her heavily bleeding hand. None-the-less, when she saw the machine going to finish off Hope, she couldn't stand idly by and watch. She hopped to her feet and shot forward. Throwing herself between Hope and the machine, she planted her uninjured hand on the floor and swung her body around, giving it a kick that sent it staggering back. With several precious seconds of time, she planted her feet on the floor and reached for her blade. In Hopes daze, he had dropped the weapon next to him and it wasn't too hard for Lightning to retrieve.

She turned to face the machine, her breath coming out in soft pants. With her right hand injured, she knew she was going to have to use her left. She had had some training with using her left hand. The strength in that arm, however, and her aim and efficiency, wasn't nearly as good. This was going to be a tough battle.

She ran forward, intending to land a blow. Without warning, the machines sawed hands suddenly unlatched from where they were attached to its limbs. As two gun barrels emerged from the stubs they left behind, Lightning had only a split second to react before the machine open fired on her.

Lightning only had a second to react and, at that moment, she suddenly had just one thing on her mind – Hope. As the machine began to unleash a rain of bullets, she ducked down, retrieving his unconscious body. The machine followed her, its bullets whizzing past her as she began to circle around.

Her arm gripping Hope from around the waist, she aimed for the door. Her only goal now was to get Hope out of this situation. Without warning, however, the machine suddenly readjusting the aim of one barrels, shooting one into Lightnings path – essentially trapping her as bullets came flying towards her from both the directions.

Despite the added weight of Hope, seeing what was coming, Lightning planted a foot on the wall. Running several steps up, she used the wall as leverage to launch herself off the ground and toward the machine. In less than a second, she had shifted her weapon into a firearm and was letting off a rapid round of fire.

Landing on the machines shoulders, Lightning pushed the the barrel of her gun to it's face and proceeded to fire at point blank range. The machine turned the barrel of its own guns up and began to fire on her. Lightning, though, seemed to be far quicker as she danced out of the machines range of fire, leaping off it and landing back on the ground.

With the few seconds of time she had bought with her acrobatics, she reached the door. Pulling both Hope and herself into the other room, she grabbed the handle and wrenched the door shut.

With some space between her and the machine, she slumped back against the wall, letting Hope slide down next to her. For a moment, she sat there, trying to catch her own breath.

Her rest, however, didn't last long. A sudden whistle, followed by an explosion, forced her to rise to her feet. The machine didn't waste any time in coming through the hole it had made in the wall and, as it turned to face Lightning, she could see that it's gun-barrel hands had also unlatched and how now been replaced by rocket propelled grenades.

As the machine fired, all Lightning could do was grab Hope and move away. The impact of the second gernade sent both their bodies flying. There was a hard thump as Lightning hit the floor. She felt her head swimming. '___No_,' she thought, '___It can't end like this_'. She sat up and turned to face the machine. It was advancing upon them, a third rocket loaded into its barrel. She crawled back, looking frantically to Hope and then back to the machine.

There was a click as the machine locked the grenade into place. She gritted her teeth, acutely aware of the clammy unnatural dampness of her bleeding hand. The prospect of her looming death suddenly hit her with a sharp bitterness. '___No... I won't let this be it!_' she thought. Abruptly picking up her gunblade and gripping it stiffly in her hand, she took aim at the grenade and fired.

The heat and energy from the explosion hit her like an oncoming train. She closed her eyes, gritting her teeth as the pressure knocked her back against the wall. She could feel several loose shards of shrapnel smashed into her body – the force enough to break skin. A burning sensation flashed through her head – causing a searing pain in her head as the insides of her ears popped. Then, almost as soon as it had happened, everything seemingly came to a standstill.

She opened her eyes, blinking at the debris that filled the air. The machine was nowhere in sight.

With a sigh, she let her body fall back against the wall, a nauseated feeling in the pit of her stomach. The entire world swam around her. '___Shit...Hope..._' she thought. Her hand had lost all feeling but pain and it was only when she looked down did she realize how badly she was bleeding. Some part of her was telling her that she was losing too much blood. Another part of her, though, was telling her that she had to make sure Hope was okay. As she turned towards him, she saw his eyes were opened. He was looking towards her, his expression filled with alarm. She heard her name and saw Hope's face getting closer. Her eyelids were heavy. She tried to move her mouth, but the only thing that came out was a groan.

___'I'm sorry, Hope,_' was the last thing that crossed her mind as she blacked out.

* * *

"Lightning! LIGHTNING," Hope yelled, shaking her. There was no response. '___Shit! Shit! SHIT!_' he thought. She couldn't black out. Not now. He had no idea how to care for her like this. "Damnit, Light!" he said. He gritted his teeth, looking frantically around the room. There had to be something to help her.

His eyes landed on the discarded knapsack. Crawling over to it, he pulled out a phoenix down before rejoining her. Without hesitation, he took her head into his lap. "Hold on, Light," he whispered. Not wasting any time, he unscrewed the bottle, pushed it to her lips and tilted it back.

Lightning coughed and sputtered as the liquid went down her throat. Hope felt a sense of relief as he saw her eyes open. "Light," he nearly choked out.

She coughed up some of the phoenix down before looking to him, her face pale. She looked like she was on the verge of passing out again. "Hope. I...I was careless," she muttered, grinding her teeth. She sounded like she was in an excruciating amount of pain.

That was when he remembered the cut. Looking down to her hand, a feeling of sickness washed over him. It was deep and still bleeding.

He tore off his own jacket and attempted to wrap it around Lightning's hand. Lightning let out a muffled hiss and, for a moment, Hope thought she was going to pull her hand away. In the end, though, she just let out a low growl, her eyes wandering down to her pouch. "It...it needs stitches..."

Hope felt his body freeze up, his breath hitching in his throat. "I-I don't know how!" he sputtered.

"My...first aid kit," Lightning wheezed.

Hope realized she was referring to the first aid kit in her pouch. It was a small kit. Inside he found a hooked needle and a length of thread. He looked to Lightning, then back to the needle. Despite wrapping his entire jacket around her hand, he could see the blood soaking through. Things were looking bad.

'___You can do this, Hope_,' he told himself. He had watched his mother sew together two sheets of fabric. The principle was the same. He was just working with flesh instead of fabric. It couldn't be that hard...could it?

His hands shaking, he missed several times before he managed to thread the needle. He tied it around the eye, unsure if he was even doing it right. Then, turning to her hand, he peeled back the blood-soaked jacket.

A feeling of nausea hit him as he drank in the sight of the wound. It was still bleeding and he couldn't even see where the opening was. He picked up a corner of the jacket, intending to dab at it. Before he could touch it, however, he felt a set of fingers wrap around his wrist.

"Hope! What are you doing?" It was Lightning. Her voice was weak and there was something distant in the way she was looking at him.

"I...i'm trying to help!" Hope replied, his voice strained with exasperation.

"Why haven't you stopped the bleeding?" she asked.

"I'm trying!" Hope shot back rather defensively. "But you said it needs stitches and I don't even know how to do stitches!"

Lightning looked dazed for a moment. Then she closed her eyes. "Hope. No. You're the one who needs stitches."

Hope was confused until he remembered the knock to the back of the head he had received. Putting his hand to the back of his head, he found it was damp. Though his hand was already covered with Lightning's blood, he could feel an open wound. Hope wasn't sure whether to be flattered that Lightning was concerned for his injury, or worried that Lightning was more concerned for his injury than her own. Had Lightnings been talking about his wound this entire time? "Wh-what about your wound?" he sputtered.

She sat up, bringing herself into a sitting position. "You're doing a good job with it, Hope. But now you need to look after yourself." There was a surprising amount of clarity in her words, despite the fact that she must have been mildly delirious if she thought he needed medical attention more than her.

He wasn't sure exactly how to respond. For a moment he hesitated. Then he leaned forward. "Light," he said, suddenly feeling brave. "You...you need stitches more than me." He narrowed his eyes, his lips turned downward into a pout as he looked to her, trying to get the message across that he wasn't leaving any room for argument.

Lightning returned his gaze with a cold one of her own and, for a moment, his resolution faltered.

"Hand me the needle," she finally said, pulling her eyes away from his.

Hope did as she requested. He watched at she cleaned the blood from her own wound. She wasn't planning to do her own stitches...was she?

His question was answered as she tied a band around her hand, cutting off her own circulation, and proceeded to push the needle into her flesh. He looked away, unable to watch as she started the process of stitching up her own wound. He listened as she hissed, obviously in pain as she worked. He couldn't even begin to imagine doing what she was doing. He could barely listen.

He shied a glance back over to her. All he saw was blood and bluish-green colored skin and that needle sliding through her flesh. For a moment, he felt his stomach heaving. Then, turning away, he completely emptied his stomach of its contents.

* * *

With the wound stitched up, Lightning let her body fall back against the floor. The pain was numbing but she was so exhausted, she felt her body drifting off to sleep anyways. For a bit, she simply laid there, drifting in and out as wave after wave of pain wracked her hand. Then she heard a thump. Her eyes drifted open momentarily and she found herself looking at Hope's face. His eyes were closed, his head resting against he floor. Hope had always been a little pale, but now in particular, the color seemed to have left his face. For a moment, she studied it, her eyes tracing the lines that made up his features. Then another wave of pain hit her and Lightning found herself drifting off into delirium.

* * *

******AN: Once again, I hope their interactions were believable. I know this chapter didn't do much to advance the plot. With what I have in store for the next several chapters, however, I think the slower pace of this one should be remedied.**

******In regards to the save stations, I wasn't really quite sure what else to call them so I just called them their in game name, despite the fact that I imagine they wouldn't function as save station to the actual characters.**


	4. Chapter 4

******4/9/2013: I went back to this chapter, worked on my grammar errors, and added a bit, including a few additions to certain scenes and the removal of a small scene that I felt was unnecessary.**

* * *

Chapter 4

Hope awoke the next morning to the sound of gunfire. Bolting straight up, his ears ringing, he looked around in confusion. Last night hadn't been pleasant; without a jacket, he had reclined against the floor next to Lightning, feeling cold, hungry, and miserable. None-the-less, he must have drifted off as some point as he had just awoken, which brought him back to the issue of the gunshot.

His thoughts instantly turned to Lightning. Twisting around, he found the space that Lightning had occupied last night to be empty.

'___Light!_'

The gunfire had to be Lightning's and the only reason he could think that she was firing her gunblade was that she was being attacked.

Fortunately, as he stumbled out the door and took several steps down the sidewalk, he found Lightning standing in the middle of the train tracks on her own. He could see her injured hand wrapped in gauze. In the other hand, she was holding her gunblade.

Tucked under her arm, however, was something else: a creature to be more specific. What kind of creature it was, Hope wasn't entirely sure. It was a bird of some type, but nothing like the birds he had seen on Cocoon. It was hanging limply under her arm, its eyes open and glassy, its feathers soaked with blood.

Lightning, hearing Hope's footsteps, turned to him. Their eyes met and, for a moment, neither of them spoke a word. It was Lightning who was the first to break the silence. Pulling her gaze away from Hope, she cleared her throat. "Are you hungry?"

Hope didn't need to stop to think about it before answering with a "Yes". He was famished – particularly after losing everything in his stomach last night.

Lightning sent Hope off to go collect twigs and, when he returned, she had chopped several limbs off the tree. It wasn't long before they had a small fire going outside the building they had been forced to spend the night in. As Hope watched Lightning plucking the feathers off the bird, his stomach rumbled, urging him to eat. The creature looked like it had a lot of meat on its bones. When Hope thought about it, it had been a while since he had had anything with meat on it.

After preparing the bird, Lightning used the leftover twigs from the firewood Hope had gathered to fashion a spit on which to roast the creature. She was surprisingly efficient with only one hand; holding the stick between her thighs, she worked on sharpening both ends with a knife, flipping it over as she finished one end and starting on the other.

Hope wanted to ask how she was doing. She seemed to have recovered amazingly quickly. Any normal person would have still been out after that. Lightning, though, was not only up; she was working.

"Light?"

She turned her gaze to him, an inquisitive expression on her face. For some reason, he felt mildly bashful with the way she was looking at him.

"Uh...about last night. Are you doing okay?"

Lightning glanced to her bandaged hand, a serious expression on her face. "I think i'll live." There was a hint of uncertainly on her face. The worry must have shown on his own features for when she looked back to him, her expression softened. "We don't have time to worry about things like this, Hope. We need to focus on our focus."

"Our focus? But what is our focus? What about Serah?" Hope found himself asking. Lightning had seemed so intent on finding her sister. How could they focus on their focus with nothing to even go on?

Lightning glanced away, her eyes almost looking distant. For a moment, he thought he had ended the conversation with that. He was surprised when he heard her voice again. "I know this may seem crazy..." she said, her voice soft, "But I have this strange feeling that Serah is very intimately tied into our focus. If we find her, we'll find what we need to complete it."

Hope was mildly stunned by her words. It wasn't like Lightning at all to go off intuition. She was always so practical – so matter of fact.

The corners of her lips curved into a strained smile. "I know it must seem strange. Me saying something like this. But if there is anything I have learned from that bone head of her fiance, it's that sometimes you have to trust your intuition, even if what it's telling you seems illogical."

For a moment, Hope got the bizarre feeling that he was closer to understanding the stoic soldier than he had ever been before.

Then the moment faded and Lightning was back to herself, a serious expression on her face as she went back to work on fashioning her spit.

* * *

"Where are you going?"

Hope stopped in his tracks. "Uh...I was just..." Hope started, sheepishly scratching the back of his head as he tried to figure out how to explain himself. He had been eyeing the unicorn mart as Lightning worked. He figured he could be of use by gathering up the supplies they needed while their breakfast roasted on the spit.

"...going back in?" Lightning finished without batting an eye.

Hope blinked. "Uh..."

Lightning sighed. "Be careful okay?" she said. As she looked back at him, Hope was surprised to see a genuine look of concern in her eyes – or at least what looked like concern. As was usual for Lightning, it was a subtle emotion. None-the-less, it was there and something about it that made Hope's heart do a little flip.

"I will," Hope reassured her, the corners of his lips curving upward into a gentle smile. If Lightning returned the smile, Hope didn't get a chance to see as it took her about half a second to turn back to tending to their breakfast.

As Hope re-entered the building, bits of sunlight streamed in through the broken windows, illuminating the room with a gentle glow. The first thing Hope did was go for the knapsack. It still laid abandoned where he had left it, the fabric laying loosely against the contour of the objects inside.

Hope picked it up and slung it over his shoulder. His first stop was back at the potions shelf. There was plenty there. He grabbed as many potions and phoenix downs as he thought they could carry, along with some antidotes and holy waters. He even grabbed several librascopes, in case they ran across another unknown enemy like that machine.

After he was done, he decided to pick up some ammunition for Lightning's gunblade. Though the ammunition was behind the counter in a glass display case, it was already jarred open slightly. He didn't have to do anything more than swing the door open. As he studied the different types of cartridges, however, he realized he wasn't sure exactly what Lightning's gunblade used. With a sinking feeling, he knew he would have to go back and ask her.

As he turned around, however, his eyes came to a rest on the glass case behind him. It was the one that contained various weapons. Before he knew what he was doing, his legs were carrying him over to the display case. Wiping the dust off the glass with his the palm of his hand, he studied the contents inside.

It wasn't a very extensive weapon collection. There were some knifes, some guns, and a few weapons of other types, such as a couple of shurikens and a scythe. What had caught his attention, however, was a gunblade. A lithe, well polished weapon, it looked quite similar to Lightning's blade, but was a bit shorter and somewhat different in shape. It was curved slightly with two rounded indentations: one on the bottom near the handle and one on top slightly farther out into the blade. The tops of these indentations ended in sharp tips. It almost reminded him of a bolt of lightning.

As he studied the blade, a thought suddenly occurred to him. He hadn't really given it any thought before, because he had been focused on Lightning's well being. Now that he thought about it, though, Lightning was right handed. He couldn't remember which hand had been the one that was injured but something about the way she had been holding her gunblade when he had first seen her this morning was different. What exactly it was, he couldn't pinpoint. Still, it wasn't hard to guess that it was, indeed, her right hand that she had injured.

Hope reached out his hand, resting it lightly against the glass. He didn't know how well Lightning could fight with her left hand. Still, whatever the case was, they needed all the fire power they could get.

The sound of glass shattering echoed through the small shop as Hope used his boomerang to smash through the display case. Reaching inside, he carefully picked up the weapon. It was surprisingly light in his hand. Lifting it up, he held it above him. The handle felt smooth under his fingers. It would be far more useful than his boomerang.

The sudden sound of footsteps snapped his attention back to his surroundings. Turning around, he found Lightning standing there, her hands on her hips as she gave him a critical look.

When she had heard the sound of glass shattering, she had thought Hope was in trouble. As he stood before her, however, she saw that the sound had only been Hope smashing through a display case. She couldn't help but shake her head, feeling slightly annoyed with him.

Hope could sense Lightnings disapproval. Taking the gunblade, though, he held it out to her. "Teach me how to fight," he requested, giving her a look of determination as he gazed up at her.

For a moment, Lightning looked taken aback by the request. "No, Hope," she finally said, shaking her head. "We don't have time for this."

Hope, though, wasn't going to take no for an answer. "We can make time! You could teach me after dark and when we take breaks," he said, a look of desperation crossing his features.

With a scowl, Lightning turned away. "Learning to use a gunblade isn't a walk in the park. It takes time and energy and a lot of patience," she remarked.

Hope bit his lip. He wanted to be able to help. Hell, he wanted to be able to protect Lightning for a change. He let out a sigh before he spoke. "I know you think i'm just a kid," he started, bowing his head slightly, "But that doesn't mean I can't fight. A boomerang is a good weapon but it can only do so much. If I had a gunblade, we would have a much better chance if we ran up against a tough enemy".

Lightning sighed, rubbing her fingers against her temples. "I appreciate your concern, Hope. I really do," Lightning said, though she didn't sound like she was particularly appreciating his concern at the moment, "But you're right. You are just a kid. A long distance weapon such as a boomerang is a lot better suited to you".

"I know it's better suited but without magic to channel through it, it's not nearly as powerful as a blade!" Hope argued back, his voice rising in pitch.

"Hope! Stop this. There's no need for you to go out of your way to learn a new weapon. I can handle whatever comes our way just fine," Lightning remarked, on the verge of losing her temper.

"Like you handled that machine?" Hope said, his own temper flaring. He suddenly didn't care that this was Lightning he was talking back to. He was trying to be helpful and she was just shooting down everything he said! "Listen, Lightning! I know you injured your right hand. I know you can use your left too, but if its anything like me trying to use my left hand, you're not going to do as well. I don't care if I put myself in danger. It won't even matter if you go down and I can't help you because all I can fight with is...is... a boomerang!" Hope finished, his breath heavy. He had a fiery look in his eyes as he stared at Lightning's back, challenging her to deny his request now.

Lightning seemed caught off guard by his sudden outburst. But it was only for a moment. "You're right. I can't use my left as well as my right!" she said, completely losing her temper, "But, regardless of how well I can use it, i'm going to be able to use it much better than you! If you get into battle with a weapon you can't properly use, than the chances are you're not going to be able to get out! I'm not going to let you get yourself killed, Serah!"

Even Lightning was surprised by her own words. She fell silent, her gaze meeting Hope's, her breath heavy. Her mouth felt dry as she realized she had just used her sisters name. She turned away, feeling rather sheepish, and an awkward silence fell between them.

Hope was the first to break the silence. "I'm sorry Lightning," he said, hanging his head. "I didn't mean to lose my temper like that. I just...I...". He paused. What he wanted to say was that he cared for her, but something in the back of his mind stopped him. "At least give me a chance," Hope finally murmured. "I know you're concerned for my safety but i'm also concerned for yours. We can make this work. I'll be a good student. I'm a fast learner and i'll follow your instructions down to the smallest detail. Plus, I can use my boomerang until I get the hang of using a gunblade. I don't mind the extra weight. So...please?"

He heard a soft sigh. He was sure he was going to hear another no. That's why he was surprised by the next words that came out of her mouth.

"Okay."

Lightning turned back to him, studying his face. Hope wasn't Serah. And even if he was, she couldn't protect him from everything. He was right. She had to give him a fighting chance.

Hope looked to her, his gaze meeting hers. "Thanks, Lightning," he said softly. "I...I guess you think i'm as helpless. Like your sister. But I promised you, Light – I promised to protect you, the same as you promised to protect me. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

Lightning was taken aback by the intensity of his words. She recalled their reunion in Palumpolum – recalled how she had promised to keep him safe. Was that what he was talking about? A strange feeling of warmth rose in the pit of her stomach. She pushed it down, biting her bottom lip as she studied the boy.

"Hope...I don't think you're helpless," she said, taking a step towards him, "But sometimes I question your common sense."

Hope glanced away, looking insulted by her words.

She placed a hand on his head before leaning down so that they were eye level, turning his head towards hers. "There is more to fighting than being able to swing a blade. You have to know your limits. Soldiers who don't know their limits are the first to die."

For a moment, Hope looked like he was going to protest. Then he nodded. "I understand, Light," he said, looking directly into his eyes.

Lightning held his gaze for a moment. Then, letting go of his head, she turned away. "Let's head back. I don't want to leave our meal unguarded."

* * *

Hope jumped back, entire body shaking with exertion, his breath coming out in short gasps. Lightning had been right when she had said that learning to use a gunblade wasn't a walk in the park; it was more like a hike up a mountain.

Before he could even catch his breath, Lightning was in his face, her eyes filled with a fiery determination as she swung her blade down on him. Hope brought his own blade up to meet her attack, creating a solid clunk as metal clashed against metal. Hope attempted to push her away, but his effort was undermined as Lightning jerked her blade to the right. Catching his own blade in one of its hallow grooves, it was suddenly wrenched from his grasp and effortlessly cast to the side. Without hesitating for a second, Lightning took the handle of her blade and slammed it into his gut, knocking the wind out of him. Gasping for breath, Hope fell onto his back. When he looked up, Lightning had changed her own blade into gun-mode and was pointing the barrel right in his face. For a moment, the two just stood there, both of them sweating and breathing heavily as they looked at each other. Then, Lightning put the gunblade away and offered him a hand.

"You're doing better than I expected," Lightning said as Hope took her hand and let her pull him up. Hope blinked, unsure whether to be offended or take Lightnings words as a compliment. Knowing her, it had probably been meant as a compliment.

"Thanks," he said, gripping his chest lightly as Lightning brought him to his feet. He was still feeling winded from that hit to the stomach. As he had expected, Lightning was a tough teacher. Still, even when she was rough with him, her occasional encouraging word was enough to keep him going through the worst of it.

As they started their walk back to camp, which was about a quarter of a mile from where they were, Hope grabbed his water bottle and took a long satisfying swig. Training, particularly after and entire day of walking, was a lot of work. Hope, though, was taking it in stride, all things considered.

They had left the city behind and several days of walking had brought them right to the foot hills of the mountains. It had been jungle from the city all the way to here and they had ended up spending most of their traveling time hacking through the underbrush. As such, Hopes new gunblade had come in handy rather quickly.

They had followed the train tracks the entire way. It was obvious that nobody had come this way in a very long time; at least as long, perhaps even longer, than the city had been decaying.

Lightning's hand had been healing relatively well. Hope was a little worried about the blood loss she had sustained. Whatever amount she had lost, however, it didn't seem to be having any adverse effects on her now. Though she was still using her left hand, she was managing it just fine. Most the time, Hope couldn't even really tell that she was having problems, though whether or not it was because she wasn't or she was simply doing a good job at hiding it was hard to say. Luckily, the beasts they had run across here hadn't given them nearly as much trouble as they had in the city, something Hope was thankful for.

For the most part, Hope had been using his gunblade in blade-mode; Lightning had insisted on him getting a good grip on how to use the blade before teaching him how to use the gun. He was under the impression that he was still quite clumsy with the thing. As he had agreed, he was still using his boomerang in battle.

For the night, they had finally come to a stop along the river that the train tracks had been following loosely throughout their journey. Camp hadn't been too hard to set up under a large tree.

As they approached the camp, Lightning suddenly grabbed Hope by the shoulder, roughly yanking him back.

"W-what is it?" Hope whispered, feeling confused as he turned to Lightning. His question was answered by a sudden rustling noise, followed by a crash. It appeared something – or perhaps someone – had entered their camp.

The fact that they had yet to run into any people was a little unnerving to Hope. Perhaps there was just nobody living in these parts. Still, Hope couldn't help but wonder about humanity and its current state of survival.

Somehow, he didn't think that nobody had survived Cocoon's fall. They had, after all, found Cocoon technology down here and...well...a Unicorn Mart. Unless Pulsians had Unicorn Marts, somebody had to have survived to bring it down here. Whether or not anybody was left now, however, was a mystery. How long that city had been there, and whether or not it was built by the survivors or just occupied by them, was also a mystery.

Then there was the possibility that their were native pulsians down here. They hadn't met any on their journey, but that didn't mean they had all died out completely...did it?

Hope contemplated these thoughts, hanging behind Lightning as she crept up to the edge of their camp. As they came closer, a foul yet somehow familiar smell hit his nose. Lightning cautiously pulled back back a branch and the sight that met them instantly explained the familiarity of the smell.

An entire flock of chocobo had wandered into their camp and were now making use of the river. In the process of doing so, however, they had pretty much trampled over all their supplies. They were traveling light but it was ___still_ their supplies. As Hope turned to Lightning, he could see her gritting her teeth slightly.

"What do we do now?" the teenager asked. He could clearly see a glint of displeasure in her eyes.

Lightning stood up, drawing her blazefire saber as she did so. Hope was getting a dangerous vibe from her. She looked ready to charge in and slaughter the creatures.

"W-wait! We're not going to kill them, are we?" Hope said, looking alarmed. Without thinking, he grabbed Lightning from around her left arm.

Lightning looked back at Hope in irritation. Instead of shoving him off, however, like he had half expected her to, she seemed give him her attention.

"I-I..." Hope stuttered, suddenly feeling timid under her impatient gaze

Lightning sighed and gently pushed him off. "No. I'm not going to kill them, Hope. But I am going to do what needs to be done to drive them off."

"But we can scare them away without hurting them?"

When Lightning didn't answer, he grabbed her arm again. This time, when she turned to him, she didn't look as patient as she had before.

Knowing Lightning, she was waiting for him to say something. "Can't we just run in waving our arms and making a lot of noise?" he suggested meekly.

Lightning slapped her palm to her face. If these chocobo were anything like the ones they had met on Pulse before, they had no natural fear of people. If they wanted to get them to go away, they were going to have to instil a real sense of fear in them.

"Wait, Light," Hope said, a real idea suddenly popping into his head. "Do you still have your Gysahl Reins?"

"Yeah..." Lightning said, "But your not honestly about to suggest we ride every single one of these chocobo out of here, are you?"

"We won't need to," Hope responded, getting an excited look on his face. "We just need to figure out which one is the leader of the flock. The others should follow!"

Lightning seemed to be listening to him now. Still, she looked critical of his proposal. "And how do you suggest we figure that out?" she asked.

Once again, Hopes face sank a little. "Well umm..." he said, "It should be the biggest and most aggressive one right?" Hope wished Sazh was here. He would be able to tell which one was the alpha. "Just...give me a moment to study them," Hope said.

Lightning let out an impatient hum but didn't say anything further.

After several minutes of studying the birds, Hope stretched out an arm, timidly pointing his finger at one of them. "It's that one," he said.

Lightning looked skeptical and Hope wasn't entirely sure himself. None-the-less, there was something about that one that seemed to commend his attention.

"Give me a chance?" Hope said, his eyes soft and imploring as he looked up at Lightning.

Lightning sighed, but handed him the reins. As much as Lightning hated to admit it, it was hard to deny him such a request when he gave her a look like that.

As Hope crept into the clearing, he could hear Lightnings own soft cautious footsteps behind him. Several of the closest chocobo raised their heads, studying the two of them with large unblinking eyes. For the most part, though, the large bipedal birds didn't take much notice of the humans in their presence. Hope wasn't entirely sure if this was good or bad.

As they approached what Hope was guessing was the "lead" bird, it turned to them, its face about as vacant as a chocobo's face could get. Hope froze, causing Lightning to let out a sound as she nearly bumped into him from behind.

For a moment, Hope stood there, having a stare down with the chocobo as he tried to get up the courage to approach the bird. It was an impatient push from behind that finally set him into action. Slowly walking up to the bird, he gently reached out a hand to touch its face. The chocobo stood by, as still as stone as Hope brought his hand up to the bottom of its cheek, slowly trailing his fingers across the soft feathers. "It's okay," the teenage boy cooed, trying to get the bird to feel comfortable enough with his presence to be mounted.

A sudden jab from behind startled him. For a moment, he thought it was Lightnings impatient pushing. It was only when he found himself being raised into the air by the hem of his pants that he realized it wasn't Lightning at all.

Looking back, he found Lightning was still standing in the bushes at the edge of the clearing. She looked startled and, with a jolt, he realized that she hadn't been following him at all. Instead, this chocobo had been the one standing behind him.

Hope watched as the ground fell beneath him. Letting out a cry of surprise, he began to struggle, helplessly kicking his legs as he dangled from the chocobo's beak.

Lightning's didn't waste any time in jumping into the clearing, intending to help Hope. Before she could reach him, however, a shot rang through the air. Reflexively, Lightning froze.

"Drop your weapon."

The voice sounded distinctly female but, as both Hope and Lightning looked around the clearing, neither of them could see the source.

"Bring him to me."

With that, the chocobo carried Hope across the clearing and dropped him at the edge. Rather abruptly, a woman stepped out from the underbrush and grabbed Hope. She was a short woman: dark skinned and teal eyed with shoulder-length brown hair. In some ways, her manner of dress reminded Hope of Vanille.

In a confident and cocky manner, she turned him around and wrapped her arms around his waist, drawing a knife and bringing it up his his neck. "Bring me the weapon, thief," she demanded, looking at Lightning, "or i'll kill this boy".

"Th-thief?" Hope sputtered, looking both confused and terrified.

The woman laughed. "Don't play innocent with me," she said looking down at the boy. "You may look innocent but it's not going to fool me".

"But she's not a thief and neither am I!"

Instead of responding to Hopes assertion, she turned her gaze to the clearing. "Don't think you can get rid of me by shooting me," she said. "Shoot me and my brother won't hesitate to shoot the kid in my stead. So bring me your weapon. I'm growing impatient."

Lightning gritted her teeth before walking over to the woman, the gunblade still pointed at her.

The woman shook her head before extending an arm to Lightning. "Give it to me."

"Give me Hope," Lightning replied, extending her injured hand out instead.

The woman chuckled. "I don't think you're in the position to be making demands. Now," she continued, her voice growing harsh, "Give me the weapon or I really will kill him". As if to demonstrate, she put a little bit of pressure on the blade. Hope couldn't help but let out a whimper as it left a thin red line on his neck.

For a moment, Lightning didn't move, her narrowed eyes bearing down upon the woman. Then, flipping the gunblade so that she was holding it by the barrel, she placed it into her outstretched hand.

The woman made a clicking sound as she examined the weapon before dropping it onto the ground. She proceeded to strip Hope of his gunblade and boomerang as well. "Good," she said, once she had them both disarmed. "Now would you care to explain what you two were doing with that chocobo?" She pointed to the one Hope had been preparing to mount.

"I was going to ride it?" Hope said, sounding rather unsure of himself.

"Ah I see," said the woman, looking amused. "So you admit to your crime?"

"Admit to what crime?" Hope asked, still confused.

The woman laughed. "Don't play stupid with me, kid. I know you were trying to take members from my flock,"

With those words, a sudden realization hit Hope. These chocobos belonged to this woman and she had been under the impression that they were trying to steal them. There was a sense of relief in his chest. As soon as he explained to this woman that it was all a misunderstanding, she would no longer have a reason to be angry at them, or to hold a blade to his neck.

"Well, yes, but we didn't know they were somebodies property. We just thought they were wild chocobos," Hope explained.

Hope was taken aback when she again put pressure on the blade, causing him to exhale in shock as it dug into his neck; it wasn't enough to kill him but it was certainly enough to frighten him quite severely and leave an open wound. "You think i'm going to believe that story again?" she growled. "Tell me. Who are you guys selling to?"

"I...I really don't know what y-you're talking about! We've never even met!" Hope gasped.

"Maybe you could tell me," the woman said, turning to Lightning.

"He's telling the truth," Lightning said, her voice remaining calm and collected, despite looking like she was ready to throttle the woman.

The woman sneered. "Maybe I should kill this boy. Would that finally get the message across to you and your little gang of vagabonds that i'm not going to tolerate thieves?"

Lightning couldn't even hold back her anger. "Lay one finger on Hope and you yourself will be dead in a heartbeat," she hissed, despite the fact that the woman was already laying her fingers on the boy.

"Wait," Hope whispered, his chest heaving as he inhaled and exhaled quite heavily. He could feel a burst of adrenaline pumping through his body and, despite the fact he was trying to remain calm, he couldn't help but feel terrified, especially considering the fact that he was so helpless in his current situation. "What do you mean our gang of vagabonds?" he squeaked.

The woman scowled. "Quit acting daft kid. I know you're one of them".

"No he's not," Lightning spat.

"We don't even know who you are talking about!" Hope said, panic evident in his voice.

"Enough with the lies," the woman snapped, her eyes narrowed in anger. "Mark!"

Across the clearing, a man stepped out of the underbrush. He was tall and slender, dark skinned like the woman. He had a grin on his face and a rifle slung over his left shoulder. It wasn't hard to guess that this was her brother.

"Keep an eye on these two while I bind their wrists. I'm not letting them go until I get some answers."

"As you wish, ___princess_," her brother remarked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Just help me!"

Mark laughed. "Fine Bree," he said, pulling out the gun. "I'll look after both of them for you."

Rather abruptly, the woman, Bree, pushed Hope belly-first onto the ground. Hope could feel bits of dirt becoming lodged in his nostrils as he tried to breath. It wasn't a pleasant sensation. None-the-less, he didn't struggle as the woman forced his hands together behind his back and began to curl what felt like a length of leather rope around his wrists.

"If you want, I can tie up the woman for you," Mark suddenly remarked. As Hope struggled to lift his face off the ground, he could see the man circling around Lightning. He couldn't help but feel uneasy as he looked at her: there was something about it that bothered him. The man was almost looking like a predator sizing up its prey.

Lightning didn't seem to look too pleased by the way he was looking at her either. "Get any closer and I will break your arm," she threatened.

The man looked amused. "That's quite a bold threat for a woman," he said, drawing in closer.

Bree sighed and rolled her eyes before reaching for a nearby stone and chucking it at the back of her brother's head. "Hands off, Mark."

"Ouch!" The brother rubbing the back of his head before backing off. For a moment, silence settled over the clearing as the woman worked on tightening the rope. With one last tug on the knot, she forced Hope to his feet and marched over to Lightning. "Here," she said, handing the boy over to Mark. Then, with the man holding Hope with one hand, and waving his rifle in Lightnings face with the other, the woman got to work on binding Lightning's wrists.

Lightning glared at Mark and Bree but didn't push her luck. No matter how she analyzed the situation, the woman and her brother had the upper hand. There were a thousand ways things could go wrong if she tried to take them on now. As much as she hated this, for now, if they wanted to escape, she would have to bide her time and wait for an opening.

When the woman was done with Lightning, she took the two of them over to the tree they had made their camp under. Much to Hopes surprise and confusion, their supplies were gone. Had Mark...taken their stuff while they had been occupied? It occurred to Hope that if they explained that the supplies had belonged to them, the woman might be more inclined to believe their story. That would only work, of course, if he had been the one to take their supplies.

"Did you see any supplies under the tree?" Hope tried to ask the man.

The man didn't even look at him.

"Quiet, scoundral" Bree growled, giving him a glare.

Hope bit his bottom lip. If it had been Mark, it was evident that he wasn't going to speak up.

With the help of her brother, Bree tied their wrists together before tying them, side by side, against a tree. As soon as the strange woman was sure they were secure, she let out a whistle.

Once again, the underbrush rustled, only it wasn't a human that came out of it but, rather, a dog.

"See these two?" the woman commanded, pointing at the two. The dog sat on its haunches, its tongue lolling at it studied the two of them with curious eyes. It was a good sized dog; it looked to be some sort of herding breed with triangular pointed ears and a curled shaggy coat.

"Guard them," the woman commanded. Then, with a smirk, she looked to the two of them. "I'll be back tomorrow with questions. For now, so much as move a muscle and Rufus here will be the first to let me know." With that, she turned away.

Mark gave the two of them one last look, the corners of his lips turned upward into a sneer, before also turning to follow his sister, leaving the two of them with the dog.

For a while they sat there in silence. Hope wasn't sure how long it was before he finally spoke. "What do we do now?" he whispered, distinctly aware of the way Lightning's shoulder was pressed to his. The ropes around his wrist, which had started out as a mild discomfort, were now turning into an unpleasant grating pain.

He heard Lightning exhale. It was approaching dusk and, as the minutes passed, darkness fell further and further upon the landscape. In the ever dimming light, it was becoming harder and harder to distinguish one shape from another. None-the-less, he could still see the dark form of the dog, sitting there with the uttermost patience, it's eyes glowing ever so faintly in the fading light.

As with the first night, the chirps of insects broke the silence: now, though, so did more. The distant howls of jungle dwelling beasts pierced through the night, along with the soft chirps of chocobo as they settled down for the night. A little farther away, he could hear the muted chatter of two human voices, along with a faint glow of light – their captors around a fire, Hope concluded.

"We wait."

Hope was confused by Lightning's sudden words until he realized she was answering his question from earlier.

As night descended on them, Hope could feel himself growing drowsy. He wasn't sure how long it took but, eventually, the voices died and the light of the fire burned down to a dim glow. By this time, the dog had reclined into a laying position. As usual of late, Hope was hungry and the slightest bit thirsty. What bothered him most, though, were his wrists. They were uncomfortably tight and every time he moved them a little to try and loosen things up, it only ended with his skin rubbing harshly against the rugged material, making his wrists sting with a raw burning sensation. It was what was keeping him from falling asleep.

"Lightning," he whispered, wondering if Lightning was still awake.

Hope heard a slight rustling noise and felt Lightning's muscles ripple slightly under the bare skin of her shoulder. He could faintly make out her features in the light of the moon as she craned her neck to look at him. Under Lightnings gaze, Hope wasn't sure what to say. Even in the darkness, though, he could tell that there was no impatience in them as he would have expected. The only thing that greeted him was a blank look on an exhausted face.

"I'm sorry, Lightning," Hope whispered, again unsure what he was apologizing for. Somehow, though, he felt that this was his fault. He had told Lightning to trust him – to give him a chance – and he had blown it.

He heard a sigh. "There's no need to apologize, Hope," she said, sounding as deadpan serious as ever. On her face, though, Hope could make out a faint hint of something else. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. "If this is anyone's fault, it's mine. I should have been looking out for both of us."

For a moment, Hope gazed back at her. Once again, he was surprised at just how different Lightning looked when she dropped the whole soldier facade. Well, in this case, she hadn't dropped it entirely. Still, there was something different about her now. As Hope studied her, a slow realization came as to what the emotion – the one he hadn't quite been able to figure out – was; It was remorse. But, there was also something else, something softer and more fragile. Was it vulnerability? As Hope studied her features, he slowly realized it was a different emotion all together; There was a hint of tenderness on her face.

"It's not you're fault either Lighting," he whispered. For some reason, he could feel his pulse quickening, his face heating up slightly as she gazed at him. The proximity of their bodies suddenly felt awkward. At the same time, there was something pleasant about it. Hope pulled his gaze away, unsure how to feel about this.

After several moments of silence, Lightning spoke. "I will get us out of here," she said with a confidence that made Hope believe her. He wasn't sure what the woman and her brother had planned for them. Whatever it was, though, he was sure Lightning would find a way for them to get away.

"I know," Hope said.

Again, silence fell over the two of them. Then, without thinking, Hope closed his eyes, dropping his head and letting it rest against her shoulder. For a moment, he could feel Lightnings muscles tensing underneath his and a feeling of apprehension swept over the boy. Just as abruptly as it came, however, Lightnings body relaxed. With a sigh of relief, Hope let his own body relax: at least as much as he could under the circumstances.

The slight warmth Lightning's body offered, along with the sound of her breathing and the gentle rocking motion that accompanied it, was somehow comforting to the boy. As the night wore on, Hope found himself slowly drifting off into sporadic fits of sleep.

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******AN: I hope that chapter was okay. I tried to iron out the interactions between the two a little, taking some suggestions I have seen into consideration. That last scene was particularly fun********to write – a little HopexLight for those of you who are here for it!**


	5. Chapter 5

******AN: Okay so the good news is I'VE GOT A BETA! Bad news is, she's only doing the first five, and possibly the sixth, chapter. She's not familiar with the fandom, but she's pretty good with grammar. She fixed up this chapter for me, teaching me what i've been doing wrong along the way. I've attempted, again, to fix up the first two chapters from what i've learned. She will fix them up soon herself. For now, though, you'll have to deal with my problematic grammar. Sorry.**

******In other news, i've started replaying Final Fantasy XIII. Though I played it through twice, it's still been a while and I figure, if I actually play the game, I won't have to run off to the Final Fantasy Wiki so often to double check my information. Plus, there's nothing quite like playing a game to get a sense of...well...just about everything about it. Part of me still wishes I could rename the character like in earlier games though. Oh the fun I would have with that.**

******Anyway, so far, i've focused, for the most part, on Hope's thoughts. In this chapter, though, I tried to focus on Lightnings thoughts a little more. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

******4/9/2013 Edit: This chapter didn't need as much fixing as the previous four, but I still went through it and cleaned it up a little. **

* * *

Chapter 5

Hope awoke in a cold sweat. He had had an unpleasant dream. It was vague in his memory, but he could still put together bits and pieces _—_ the PSICOM soldiers, his mothers face, that bridge as it collapsed _—_ all of it came together in a contorted memory of the Hanging Edge. That, though, hadn't been the worst part. At some point, the dream had changed. He saw the monster from his vision _—_ it had been tearing through a crowd of people, slaughtering them incessantly. Through the course of this sequence, he had sometimes watched it from the side as if he were viewing a movie. Other times though, he had been the beast himself. He couldn't help but shiver as he thought about it. It wasn't a pleasant dream. Moreso, it was an unpleasant reminder of his focus.

As he sat there, trying to push away the remnants of the dream, he noticed something was different. He wasn't quite sure what it was until he moved his wrists. Quite abruptly, he realized the rope was gone. As he tried to move his hands, however, he felt a firm grasp from behind. His gaze wandered to Lightning and she gave him a stern look before mouthing a single word: "___Wait._"

Hope gazed back at her with curiosity, but kept his hands still. Whatever Lightning had planned, she wanted him to wait. Looking up, he could see a faint light peeking through the thick underbrush – one that indicated the sun was beginning to rise. In the early morning light, the clouds had a pinkish glow to them.

The dog had rolled into its back but still appeared to be watching them. Hope couldn't help but wonder, as he looked at the dog, how Lightning had gotten the rope loose. She must have done it while he was asleep. Had Lightning been up all night? When he turned his gaze to her, she didn't seem to be showing any outward signs of fatigue. Still, he could see the faintest hint of dark circles under her eyes.

What were they waiting for now? If Lightning's hands were free, couldn't she easily kill the dog with whatever she used to cut the rope and be done with it? Somehow Hope suspected she would have no moral objections to such an act and they could easily be out of here before their captors had time to arrive. So the question on his mind was, why was she holding back?

Then a thought occurred to him. The woman and her brother still had their weapons, and without them they would be utterly defenseless if they ran into an enemy. Was Lightning waiting for them to come here?

Lightning, meanwhile, was thinking over her plan. She would indeed wait for them to come. When they let their guard down, she would strike. It was obvious to her that they lacked knowledge in certain...matters of common sense. They hadn't even felt her down for weapons. With a little effort, she had managed to get hold of her survival knife and cut through the rope that bound them, all without alerting the dog's attention. The way they handled their weapons also suggested to her that they were amateurs. It didn't look like they had been trained to handle the weapons under formal military instruction and she doubted they'd ever used them for anything more than hunting.

From what she knew, the man was armed. There was the possibility the woman was armed too. If she wasn't though, things would be easy. First she would take out the brother. Then, without the threat of being shot, the sister would be a piece of cake. Though she had a knife, those were far easier to deal with than guns.

Of course, again, that relied entirely on her not having a gun. If she was armed, that would make things a little more complicated. No matter whom she attacked, the other could attack too. Hmm...maybe it would be easier to take one of them hostage. They had no idea that their hands were free. She would be able to grab her before the brother even had time to react. It probably wouldn't be too hard to negotiate the safety of his sister in exchange for their weapons and freedom either. His sister's life, after all, had to be more valuable than whatever they wanted from her and Hope. At least, she suspected it was. They didn't seem to get along particularly well. All the same, the fact that they were out here by themselves suggested they had to have some sort of deeper bond that held them together.

In addition, there was the possibility that the brother would keep his distance. That would make things even more difficult. Of course, this could also be dealt with by taking the sister hostage.

When Lightning glanced back at Hope, she found him looking up at her expectantly. She wasn't entirely sure what he was expecting of her. Was he waiting for something specific? Feeling his arm wiggle slightly in her grasp, she realized she was still holding on to his wrist. She immediately let go. Was that what he was waiting on? His expectant staring, however, did not cease. The only thing that had happened was that he now looked slightly confused as well.

Lightning sighed. In the time they had known each other, she had developed an odd sort of bond with the boy. Lightning didn't entirely understand these feelings herself. All the same, she felt a duty to protect him – to protect what was left of his innocence. She wanted to protect in him what she herself had been forced to give up at his age.

At the same time, she wasn't going to coddle him in doing so. He was young, but not that young. Though she wanted to protect him, she also expected a certain amount of from him. So far, he had exceeded her expectations. Though raised a spoiled kid, he had an amazing amount of focus and determination. She saw a lot of potential in him. Perhaps that was why, despite her misgivings, she had agreed to train him.

"What is it, Hope?" Lightning asked.

Hope seemed to hesitate. Then, after a moment's pause, he spoke. "What are we going to do?"

Lightning felt slightly annoyed by the question. "We're going to wait," she responded stiffly, repeating the same thing she had told him earlier. As she finished though, she saw a look of hurt in Hope's eyes.

Once again, Lightning sighed. Part of her wanted to ask him what was wrong. At the same time, another part _—_ the soldier part of her _—_ was telling her it didn't matter. There was no time for sentimentality right now. She had to focus on what they needed, and they needed to get out of here. She couldn't let anything distract her from that goal.

As she looked at Hope though – looked at how lost he seemed to be – her mind urged her to reassure him. The kid had nobody but her. He had already been through so much. If she didn't ask, nobody would.

"Hope...is something wrong?" she finally mumbled, unable to meet his gaze as she articulated the question.

She was met with silence. She waited. She could feel Hope shifting slightly beside her. Risking a glance at him, she saw Hope giving her a look that could only be described as... adoration? For some reason, a strange feeling manifested itself near the bottom of her stomach. Lightning gulped, pushing it down. She didn't understand the feeling. It was foreign to her and she didn't want to deal with it. All the same, it seemed to spread, starting with her chest and going to the tips of her fingers and toes, leaving a strange tingling sensation in her body.

Before Hope could answer, his gaze suddenly shifted from her to something over her shoulder, a look of surprise accompanying it.

Turning around, Lightning was rather taken aback to see a figure standing there in the brush. He – or possibly she – was wearing a dull brown trench coat, underneath which she could see partial body armor. Their face was obscured by a PSICOM helmet, making their gender hard to determine. What made this person _—_ this stranger _—_ so odd though, was the fact that they were wearing a wide-brimmed fedora over the helmet. They appeared to be relatively tall. Based on the body shape alone, she would guess they were male. Still, looks could be deceiving.

The dog seemed to have taken notice of the stranger as well, as it had gotten to its feet and proceeded to crouch down on its haunches, a low rumbling sound emanating from the back of its throat. The stranger turned their head to the dog, giving it a glance before turning their attention back to the two of them, staring out at them through the dark lenses of the helmet.

For a moment, Lightning stared back, her eyes narrowed. Was this person with Bree and Mark? He didn't appear to be. He was hanging back, staring at them from the bushes. The dog didn't appear to trust him either.

A sudden bark erupted from the dog and the figure whipped their attention to the creature. Then, without further hesitation, they retreated back into the bushes.

Lightning almost immediately realized the barking of the dog would bring the woman's attention. '___Shit_,' she thought. It wouldn't take long for the woman to figure out she had cut the rope. That person, whoever they were, had just blown their cover. They had to act now.

Sure enough, the woman soon burst into the clearing, followed by her brother. With the brother keeping several feet behind her, she marched right up to them. "Ugh," she said, rubbing her brows tiredly. "Couldn't you two have given me a few more hours of sleep?"

Mark chuckled and she shot him a glare. She didn't appear to be in a good mood. Brushing her hands through her messy hair, she leaned down. "So, what is the reason I have been woken up so early?" she asked, staring Lightning right in the face.

Lightning tightened her grip around the rope, keeping it taught against the tree with one hand. In the other hand, she held the survival knife, ready to strike when the time was right. She didn't speak. Instead, she turned away, refusing to meet the woman's gaze. Her grip tightened on the handle of the blade. She could feel the warmth of Hope's body next to hers, his breathing sharp and nervous.

The woman looked irritated. When she made a move to reach over for the rope, Lightning knew it was now or never. Just as she was about ready to seize the woman, however, a movement out of the corner of her eyes caught her attention - a dark shape slinking among the chocobo.

The split second her attention had been diverted, the woman saw the gleam of a weapon behind her back. "They're-" however, was all she managed to get out before Lightning slammed her knee straight into the woman's gut.

"Fuck," Mark cursed as Lightning moved in one fluid swift motion from kneeing the woman in the gut to kicking him. It wasn't, however, Lightning he was cursing about. Just before Lightning hit the woman, he had found Hope staring wide-eyed at something that appeared to be behind him. Curiosity had gotten the better of him. Turning around, he had just enough time to comprehend the sight before him and utter that single word before a swift kick to the back of the head knocked him to the ground.

Lightning turned to Hope to make sure he was okay. He had his back pressed against the tree and looked slightly shaken as he gazed at the scene before him.

"Come on, Hope," she said, not wasting any time in grabbing him by the wrist and dragging him behind her.

As Lightning moved away, however, she heard a clicking noise that she instantly recognized as the cocking of a gun. Turning around, she found the woman on her knees, a pistol pointed at them.

"Move and I'll shoot," she snarled. Lightning froze, pushing Hope behind her back in a protective manner. For a moment the two of them gazed at each other. Then rather abruptly, the woman's gaze shot from Lightning and Hope to something behind them, her expression going from angry to shocked.

Lightning turned around and found out why. Behind them, a group of three were attempting to herd a small party of chocobo away. The fedora-wearing stranger from earlier was among them. All three of them were dressed down in partial body armor and wearing PSICOM helmets.

Bree didn't hesitate to open fire. The three thieves, however, realizing that they were being fired upon, drew their own weapons and fired back. The ensuing fire-fight gave Hope and Lightning just enough time to scramble away.

At the same time, it also sent a rain of bullets flying in every direction.

"Shit," Lightning cursed as she pulled Hope behind a large tree, a bullet whizzing by her ear and missing it by about an inch. As Lightning flattened herself and Hope against the tree, Hope found his body pressed uncomfortably close to hers. It wasn't exactly the way Lightning's body felt against his that made him uncomfortable; it was more the fact that it was an awkward position to be in. He could feel a slight blush creeping onto his face, his heart hammering in his chest as he stood there acutely aware that her breasts were mere inches from his face. Still, as Lightning commanded him to stay still, Hope obeyed without question. He trusted that Lightning would get them out alive and that's what his focus was now.

Lightning gritted her teeth, the thunder of bullets ringing in her ears as they were discharged into the air around them. The woman and her brother's camp was all the way across the clearing. The problem with that, of course, was that that put the ensuing fire-fight directly between them and their weapons. Lightning had to think of a plan and she had to think of one fast.

"Listen to me, Hope," Lightning said, pulling back just a little as she put her hands on the boy's shoulders. Hope's eyes widened a little as she spoke his name, but the look was soon replaced by a more serious one as he nodded his head, indicating that he was listening.

"We need our weapons," she started, her eyes wandering in the general direction of the camp.

Hope nodded in understanding, his eyes following hers. He saw the problem. If they ran across the clearing now, chances were that they were going to get shot. If they snuck around the edge of the clearing, they could still get hit by a stray bullet. If they went too far into the forest to avoid the fire-fight, they could run into monsters. If they waited until it was over...well...they knew the woman and her brother would probably go after them again. They didn't know what the others would do with them. Hope, though, didn't want to stick around to find out. They had to act and they had to act now.

Frantically, he looked around the clearing, trying to think of a solution. There had to be something here _—_ something they could use to get across the clearing. '___Come on!_' he told his brain, '___Think!_' His eyes moved rapidly, glancing at the canopy above them, moving to a frightened chocobo as it ran past them, shooting to the thick forest in front of him. '___There has to be something,_' he thought, gritting his teeth. Then, as his eyes came to rest on the river, an idea suddenly clicked in his head.

"I think I have a plan," he said, glancing at Lightning and then back at the river.

Lightning followed Hope's gaze and realized almost immediately what Hope was thinking. The river ran perpendicular to their current position and the camp, and the bank appeared to slope down slightly. If they got to the river and stayed below the bank, it would be almost impossible for a bullet to hit them. They could get across the clearing with little risk.

The only problem was that there was still about a twenty-foot stretch between them and the river, and it was directly through the current line of fire.

Lightning, though, didn't seem to be deterred. As she glanced back at Hope, there was a look of understanding in her eyes and Hope knew she was thinking the same thing he was. "Follow me," she whispered.

Lightning darted forward, pulling herself behind a tree. Looking over at Hope, she gestured to him before darting towards another.

Hope followed Lightning as they moved from tree to tree. His ears were ringing and his heart was beating rapidly in his chest. Any moment now, he expected to feel the piercing pain of a bullet going through his vulnerable body. Each movement, though, brought them closer and closer to the river. Finally, all that separated them and the river was one last three-foot stretch of soil.

Lightning hesitated for a moment. Then she made a run for it. Hope saw her disappear below the river bank. He, too, hesitated for a moment before he followed, running those last several feet and letting himself drop over the ledge.

As he did so, he found himself ankle-deep in a slow-moving current. The water was freezing and it soaked right through his boots and down to his socks. Hope, though, got down on his hands and knees. Up ahead, he could see Lightning crouched down, looking back at him as she waited for him to follow.

As the two of them crawled along the side of the bank, the slope gradually evened out. Where at first they were crawling on their hands and knees, soon they were pushing through the water on their bellies. Hope found himself struggling to breathe as he tried to keep his head low _—_ too low, and it would go below the water line; too high, though, and he would be at risk for getting shot. His hands, belly, and knees were coated in mud and he could feel some of the sharper river rocks poking into his bare skin, making the entire experience very uncomfortable, if not painful.

Hope was relieved when the bank began to slope up. It meant they were almost across the clearing. As Lightning stopped and got to her knees, Hope followed. Hope wasn't sure when it had happened, but as he sat there waiting for Lightning to make a move, he realized the shooting had stopped.

Lightning, too, had noticed the firing had come to a stop. She was cautious; she didn't know whether this meant that their captors had been killed, that the thieves had gotten away, or that the fighting had simply come to a standstill. The only thing Lightning had to defend herself was her survival knife. Whatever the case was, they had to get in, get their weapons, and get out - and they had to do it fast.

Lightning looked back at Hope before cautiously poking her head above the bank. The camp was tucked back into the forest, surrounded on all sides by trees. Only a small gap showed the clearing. The camp itself was modest; a small fire pit was surrounded by several sleeping bags, some knapsacks, and some other basic comforts and supplies. She didn't, however, see their gunblades.

"I'll check the supplies and you keep a watch out for anyone coming," Lightning told Hope. Hope nodded, seeming to understand the urgency of the situation, and both of them moved out.

Lightning went straight for the knapsacks. The first one was completely empty besides some pots and pans at the very bottom. The second one, though, was filled with various odds and ends; rope, extra blankets, ammunition, and an oil lamp were among the things inside. Their gunblades, though, weren't among the items. Lightning tossed it aside and moved onto the third one. Much to her irritation, this one was only filled with gysahl greens.

Hope, meanwhile, moved to the gap in the trees. He was slightly spooked to find the clearing completely empty; the only thing that indicated that there had been recent activity were the bullet shells that littered the ground amongst chocobo dung. Where had everyone gone?

In frustration, Lightning threw the sack to the side. Their gunblades had to be around here somewhere. But where? She began to check around the side of the camp, looking behind trees to see if they had been propped there and in the sleeping bags in case they had somehow been pushed inside them. At this point, anything they could find to defend themselves would work. Her search, however, was turning up fruitless and the longer they stayed, the greater the risk.

Suddenly, out of seemingly nowhere, a shot rang out. Immediately, Lightning dropped to the ground, her eyes rapidly scanning the area around them. She couldn't pin-point where the shot had come from. Were they being shot at?

Her eyes finally resting on Hope, she was relieved to see that he had gotten down on the ground as well. She crawled over to him. As she got closer, however, her heart nearly came to a stop. Hope's face was contorted in pain and, upon closer examination, he looked like he was clutching his shoulder.

'___Hope!_'

Lightning quickly closed the gap between her and the boy. As she looked over him, she could see a dark red spot forming mid-way down the left side of his back. "Hope!" she hissed, grabbing him by the shoulder.

Hope looked up, his eyelids heavy and lips parted slightly. His face was drenched in bits of dirt and sweat. "Light," he said softly, the corners of his lips curving upward into a pained smile. Then he let his face drop against the ground.

As the sound of a second shot filled the air, Lightning grabbed Hope and hauled him over the side of the river bank. Crouching down into the water, she propped him up, his head rolling against her shoulder as she cradled him. She could see that the wound had entered from the front just below the shoulder. Using her survival knife, she cut through his shirt and jacket, peeling back the water-logged clothing. It left him bare chested, but it also gave her access to his wound. She wasn't too concerned about the state of his clothes. The bullet had pretty much ruined them anyways.

Without wasting any time, she took off her own jacket and wrapped it around his chest. Hope shivered in response, letting out a moan of pain. "Hang in there, Hope," she said, grinding her teeth in frustration. Hope was losing blood and he was losing it fast. It wasn't like her wound where she had lost blood because she hadn't tended to it right away. The bullet had left a hole in his chest and blood was quickly soaking through her jacket.

Guilt gripped Lightning as she pulled the makeshift bandage tighter, trying to stem the flow of blood. Why had she sent him to be lookout? Why didn't she consider the risk? Why hadn't she just told him to stay put while she looked for their weapons? Perhaps she had put too much trust in his common sense? He was, after all, still just a kid. At the same time, Lightning was finding herself putting more and more trust in him. Was that a mistake?

His blood was leaving a trail in the water, bits of red mixing with the clear liquid as the current carried it downstream. The thought occurred to her that he was going to die. Though he hadn't appeared to have sustained injury to any internal organs, if he continued bleeding the way he was, it would kill him, and so far her attempts at stemming the bleeding were not going so well. Lightning felt her heart constricting in her chest. Hope couldn't die. She had promised to protect him. She wouldn't let him die on her now. Not after all they had been through together.

A sudden splosh, like something heavy landing the the water, brought her attention away from the boy. Turning her gaze up, she found herself looking at the fedora-wearing stranger. Lightning drew her survival knife and flipped it open, openly glaring at whoever was hiding behind that PSICOM helmet.

They studied Lightning for a moment before holding out their hands, palm up, showing her that they were unarmed. "I can help," they said, glancing down to the injured boy she was holding.

Lightning blinked. There was something vaguely familiar about the voice. Due to the fact that they were wearing a PSICOM helmet, it was muffled, sounding almost synthesized. At the same time, Lightning had this feeling she had heard this voice somewhere before. "How do I know I can trust you?" she asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

"You don't. But if he doesn't get medical attention, he will die," the stranger replied.

Lightning hesitated for a moment, looking between Hope and the stranger. Then, her eyes still on them, she put her survival knife away.

The stranger approached the two of them and crouched down. "Let me see it," they said gently. Again, Lightning hesitated. Her hesitation, however, only lasted for a moment. Reaching for the make-shift bandage, she stripped it away. The stranger studied the wound for a couple of seconds before reaching forward and putting their hand over it. For a moment, a bluish light surrounded the wound. When they pulled their hand away, it had vanished. Though the area was still soaked in blood, the opening itself was gone.

Lightning bit her bottom lip. She knew a cure spell when she saw one. If this person knew cure though, then that meant...

"Who...are you?" she asked, her face set in stone as she gazed at the stranger.

In response to her question, the stranger stepped away, reaching up and placing their palms flat against both sides of the PSICOM helmet.

Not even Lightning could hide her astonishment as the helmet was pulled away.

'___...Raines_?!'

* * *

******AN: Yes! I finally get to bring Cid into play!**

******Okay okay, before you jump down my throat for bringing a dead character back to life with no explanation what-so-ever, let me reassure you that I am not throwing the canon universe, (at least in regards to the first game), completely out the window. I don't want to spoil anything but...just trust me on this one.**

******As always, reviews, critique, feedback of any sort is appreciated. c:**


	6. Chapter 6

******AN: I know I said this last chapter but...I've finally found a beta! One who doesn't make me watch Teen Wolf XD (Sorry hun. I love you but Teen Wolf isn't my thing.) Anyway, my beta is Alrynnas. She did this chapter and will hopefully be doing my future chapters as well, so kudos to her!**

******Anyway, i've really been enjoying replaying the game. It's helping me with getting characterization down along with catching various small details I would have normally missed. Plus, it's somehow a blast to tear through enemies with the game muted and classic 80's music playing in the background. **

******As always, thank you guys for the reviews/favs/follows. I really do appriciate each and every one of them. It's always encouraging to hear back from you guys in even the smallest way.**

******This chapter is...important. I'll just leave it at that.**

******2/9/2013 Edit: I went back through this chapter. There wasn't as much to correct as before, but I did reword some of Cid's dialogue (If you can't recall from the game, he liked to use big words.) and cut out some things that I felt were unnecessary.**

* * *

Chapter 6

Lightning gripped Hope to her, her astonishment quickly being replaced by a feeling of rage. This was the man who had worked for Barthandelus. Sure, he had tried to go against his superior, defying his Focus and his fate in the process. Still, trying to kill them hadn't exactly left a favorable impression of the man in her mind.

Cid smiled, almost sadly, as he stood there knee-deep in the water, the fedora still atop the helmet as he held it under his arm. "It's been a while hasn't it, Farron?" he commented, sounding rather coy despite the formal way he addressed her.

"Get away from me," Lightning hissed, her voice filled with malice.

Cid stepped back, looking apologetic. It was obvious that the gratefulness he would have normally received for saving someone's life had been stamped out by the bitter resentment he had left behind from their last meeting. In a way, he couldn't blame her. He had, after all, tried to murder them.

"Would it help at all to make amends if I were to apologize for my previous actions, Miss Farron?" he asked, his voice calm and collected despite the aura of malevolence he could feel emanating from the former soldier.

Lightning stood up, Hope's head resting against her shoulder as she held him in her arms, her hands providing steady support to his back and legs. Cid couldn't help but note that she had some rather remarkable strength. The teenage boy had to be as least 2/3rds her weight. While there was some obvious strain on her, she seemed to be handling it amazingly well. Taking several haggard steps to the side, she pinned her eyes on the former brigadier general. "About as much as you putting a bullet through him," she snarled, staring him straight in the eyes before turning around and marching off.

"Wait, Farron," Cid called, feeling slightly bewildered as he slogged through the cold water after her. He attempted to grab her by the shoulder. Lightning didn't take too kindly to this gesture. The second his skin touched hers, she turned to the side and rammed her elbow into his stomach before twisting her leg behind his and tripping him from behind. Cid fell back into the water, letting out a grunt as he clutched his stomach in surprise.

"I'm trying to help," he said, holding his gaze steadily on her back.

"We don't need your kind of help."

"Estheim has lost a lot of blood," he tried. "I may have stopped the bleeding but that doesn't mean he doesn't still need medical attention."

Lightning halted. "And you can provide medical attention?" she asked, keeping her back turned to the man.

"The best we have."

Lightning rounded on the captain. "And what do you want in return?" she snarled. She didn't understand why Cid was so desperately trying to help them. The only explanation she could think of was that he, for some reason, needed something from them. Help, after all, never came free. But why? It made no sense. Their meeting was accidental. What could they possibly have that he wanted?

"In return? As I indicated previously, my only desire is to provide assistance," Cid replied, remaining calm and collected.

Lightning sneered before turning away. She didn't understand what was going on but, whatever it was, she didn't trust this man. He had betrayed them once. She wasn't going to make the same mistake again. She would find help for Hope without him – even if she had to fight her way through a monster-infested jungle to do it.

The words he spoke next, though, made her freeze:

"You're not going to make it to Oerba without magic."

His remark completely caught Lightning off-guard. The implications sent a shiver down her spine. How much did he know about their situation?

Slowly, she turned to the former captain, her expression cold and hostile as she looked at the older man. "What do you know about Oerba?" she demanded.

"I know it is the location your sister was attempting to reach"

Lightning's body went stiff. "What do you know about my sister?" she hissed through clenched teeth. Though the same hardened expression remained on her face, there was a hint of uncertainty in her voice. Something too about her posture had changed – something that suggested she wasn't as resolute in what she wanted as before.

"I can provide what information I have." Cid's gaze flickered down to the teenage boy in Lightning's arms. "But first, I think we should get Mr. Estheim some medical attention."

* * *

Lightning sat on a stool, staring out the window at the crystallized ball in the sky that had for so long been her home. In a cot next to her lay Hope. He had been completely out of it since before they had gotten here.

When she had first arrived, she had gotten the impression that it was some sort of military base. A barbed-wire fence lined the perimeter of several buildings. These building were part of a small town along the enormous lake that she had seen from the city. Like the city, most of the town was in a state of decay. Unlike the city, though, there were no walls built around the town itself.

The only thing that connected it to the outside world was a train station. Here, the train tracks that they had been following from the city forked, one continuing around the lake while the other appeared to go onto the mountains. It didn't look like anything more than a pit-stop to Lightning. There were quite a few boats abandoned along the shore – what looked like fishing vessels. It was possible that there had once been a bustling fishing industry here. Besides the base, though, it looked like the town had been abandoned completely.

Inside the wall, things were a little better kept. Men armed with guns had been patrolling the perimeter of the fence. They all wore PSICOM masks and body armor, much like the first two she had witnessed. One of the buildings inside the perimeter was a barn with a small field next to it. She had heard both the cries of chocobos and the calls of sheep coming from within. The second building appeared to be a storage shed of some sort. It was the third building, the largest one, in which everybody seemed to live. It was in a room in this building that she and Hope had been put up for the night.

Hope had gotten the medical attention he needed – or at least what he could get. The entire procedure had been sketchy. The doctor looked old – in his 60s or 70s. The tools weren't in prime condition and the room hadn't been entirely sanitary either. Nonetheless, the man had appeared to know what he was doing.

Both she and Hope had been in need of a blood transfusion – Hope more so than her. When Lightning had explained what had happened to her hand, the doctor had seemed a little shocked that she was still standing. Nevertheless, the doctor had systematically figured out their blood types, found donors, and gotten the procedure done. Now, Lightning was sitting here, waiting for morning to come.

Despite the risk of incurring her wrath, Cid had insisted that both of them were tended to before he told her anything. That had included getting washed up, tending to their injuries, eating, and getting a good night's rest. Lightning refused to eat and sleep until she got answers. Washing up, however, was something she hadn't turned down.

It seemed like forever since she had taken a shower. Even the basin full of warm water and soap she had been offered to scrub herself down with had been better than nothing. Cid had seemed slightly apologetic that he couldn't offer her a full shower. It seemed that they were living in primitive conditions. Candles, hand-powered water pumps, and cast iron stoves; all of it was technology that was utterly ancient. Only the weapons and armor, along with some machines that were built from what looked like salvaged parts, hinted that the people here all had come from a more technologically sophisticated society.

As she sat there, she found her gaze wandering over to Hope. He was lying back-first on the bed, his breathing even as he slept. He had been stripped down to his boxers, cleaned, and laid to rest by the doctor. With the moonlight streaming in through the window, she could clearly make out his face. It was pale, his features subtle and delicate, yet distinctly boyish. As her eyes wandered down to his chest, they came to rest on a dark purple bruise that was left from where the bullet had entered his lower shoulder.

Lightning scooted closer, her hand wandering to the bruise. She brushed her fingers lightly across the spot, the tips of her digits lingering gently on his skin. She nearly drew back when Hope shifted slightly, a soft audible sound coming from the back of his throat. His eyes, however, remained shut as his movement settled, still visibly in a state of deep slumber.

Lightning let out a soft sigh. As impatient as she was to learn what Cid knew about her sister, she was still worried about Hope. The doctor had told her that he would recover fully with a bit of rest. Lightning, though, had nearly watched him die. She could still feel a jolt of adrenalin running through her body when she thought about it – thought about how close he had been to slipping through her fingers.

She brought her hand down to his. Taking it in her own, her fingers interlacing with his, she gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'll won't make the same mistake again, Hope," she murmured, her face set into an expression of determination. "I promise."

* * *

Hope woke with a start. The first thing he noticed was that his shoulder was painfully sore. Reaching up to it, he clutched it slightly. The last thing he remembered was getting shot. Lightning had held him – had tried to stop the bleeding. The rest was a blur. Now as he sat up, he found himself lying in a bed, his lower body covered by a thin blanket. He could feel something in his hand. As he opened it, he was surprised to see it was another hand. Following the hand up the arm to whom it belonged, he found Lightning sitting on a stool, her body slumped over and her head hanging down. It took him a moment to realize that she was asleep.

"Light?" he asked softly. It was one of those rare moments where he actually saw Lightning while she was asleep. Normally, he would have been cautious about waking her up. His mind, however, was on other matters. He had no idea where they were or how they had gotten here. He could see it was a room – a sparsely decorated one. It had nothing more than a window, the bed he was in, and a bedside table atop which sat a candle. Other than that, he was clueless.

At the sound of her name, Lightning stirred slightly before she lifted her head, a tired look to her features. "Hope?" she murmured, blinking the sleep out of her eyes.

Hope had so many questions for her. The question that came out of his mouth, however, wasn't exactly what he had had in mind: "Did you fall asleep like that?"

Lightning's body went rigid at his words. She brought her eyes to his before slowly scanning the room, brushing a hand through her messy hair. Hope guessed, from her reaction and the way he had found her, that her intention hadn't been to fall asleep in the first place.

"N-never mind," Hope said, not wanting to push her about it. "Where are we anyways?"

Lightning seemed to hesitate at his question and, before she could answer, there was a sudden knock at the door. It swung open and standing there was Cid Raines, a mug in hand. He gazed at the two of them, his eyes wandering down to their intertwined fingers, a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

Hope didn't notice where his gaze had wandered. More so, he was shocked to see the former captain standing there in the flesh. He didn't remember being healed; by that time, he had been so out of it, he wouldn't have noticed if everyone had broken into song.

"It's okay, Hope," Lightning murmured, her grip on his hand tightening and her own face turning to stone. She could see the tension in Hope's features – the look of muted shock with a hint of fear, anger, and bitterness. She wasn't sure how much he remembered about the other day; probably not a lot based on how he was reacting. But for now, as much as her own feelings mirrored his, she couldn't have him making a scene. She still needed answers.

Cid must have noticed the look he was getting too as he proceeded to apologize. "Ah. My apologies, Miss Farron," he said, stepping forward and bowing his head slightly. "I thought our patient might be in need of a drink" With that, he placed the mug on the bedside table and proceeded to turn and leave.

"Wait," Lightning ordered, her tone laced with a bitter impatience. "We need to talk."

Cid froze in the doorway, standing there like a teenager who had been caught trying to walk away from an angry parent in the middle of a lecture. "Ah yes," he said after a moment, slowly turning back to them, a thoughtful look on his face. "I suppose the two of you are experiencing an innate desire to understand your current situation."

'_Damn right we are,_' Hope thought with a grimace. For one thing, he wanted to know exactly what Cid Raines was doing here. For another, he wanted to know why Lightning wasn't shocked to see him. The last thing Hope had heard about Cid was that he had been revived from crystal stasis to serve as the new Primarch. Whether or not he had actually survived the fall of Cocoon, or that the information about Cid that Barthandulous that had provided them with was true in the first place, wasn't something he could say with certainty – or at least it hadn't been. Cid was clearly here and in one piece now. Why, though, he was here in front of them in the first place, acting friendly after their last meeting, was something Hope didn't understand – or particularly like.

Lightning stood up, letting go of Hope's hand as she approached the man. Stopping just short of him, she leaned in until her face was mere inches from his. With a challenging glare, she grabbed him by the collar of his coat. She was intimidating, despite the fact that she was nearly a full foot shorter than the man. "I've waited long enough. I want answers and I want them now," she hissed. Even Hope could sense a dangerous vibe coming off her. It was funny how fast she had gone from telling him to remain calm to turning her anger on Cid. He had a feeling things were going to get ugly if she didn't get what she wanted; and, for some reason, he wasn't entirely opposed to this idea – particularly if Cid was the subject of her unadulterated rage.

A smile tugged at the corner of the man's lips. "I understand completely, Miss Farron," he stated calmly. He didn't seem to be at all deterred by the unfriendly attitude of his current audience.

Lightning let go of his shirt and pushed him back, her eyes trained on him as she let out a snort. "If you understand completely, then talk," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"As you wish." Cid bowed his head slightly. "What exactly is it that you would like to know?" Hope wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but Cid seemed almost...amused. Like he knew he had them in his grasp – and could easily withhold the information from them – but, for some reason, was choosing not to.

"Serah. Where is she?" Lightning demanded.

Cid clicked his tongue. "What is her current location? Quite frankly, I haven't got a clue."

"Then what do you know about her?" Lightning growled, not looking too pleased with his answer.

"I do not know a lot," Cid admitted. "They came through here about 8 or 9 months ago. Serah and Snow, I mean. They were seen at the fork in the railroad. Nobody here, though, talked to them personally."

"And how did you know she was heading to Oerba?"

"Well, to be honest, I don't really know," answered Cid simply. "I wasn't there at the time. If you're following the trail they were following, though, about the only place you would be heading is Oerba."

"And you assume the reason we're here is because we're looking for Serah?" Lightning crossed her arms over her chest.

"I assume that is the reason that you have traveled to this location," Cid glanced at Hope. "I cannot say the same for Mr. Estheim. Either way, what I verbalized before still stands. You're not going to even get close to Oerba without magic."

"And how do you know we don't have magic?" Lightning questioned, her voice remaining calm, despite the look of suspicion on her face.

"Well, I would assume that, if you did, Mr. Estheim here wouldn't have been bleeding to death when I found you, and you wouldn't have had any reason to come back here in the first place."

Lightning let out a "tch" sound, not looking too pleased with his words. Before she could come up with a verbal response, though, Hope suddenly spoke. "Where is 'here'?" he demanded. There was a hint of scorn in his eyes as he looked to the former captain. He wasn't the only one who wanted answers.

"Ah. Where we are? I suppose that isn't an unfair question to ask. This is actually a trading post – a trading post in the town of Lake Palazzo. Or...at least what remains of the town. This trading post has been here for a while, but the town itself hasn't been occupied since the pandemic."

"The...pandemic?" Hope repeated slowly, his anger abruptly melting away and being replaced by confusion.

Cid nodded, looking at them with what almost looked like... nervousness? "Yes. Have you two not heard? It happened about 30 years ago. A disease that spread from city to city. Most the population was killed off – ex-Cocoon and Pulse alike."

Hope's eyes widened. 30 years. They had been in crystal stasis for over 30 years.

Lightning too must have realized the implication of his words for a dark look clouded her face. After a moment, she spoke. "How long?" she demanded, looking up at Cid, her eyes narrowed. "How long has it been since we completed our Focus? Since we turned to crystal?"

Cid seemed to hesitate at the question. That wasn't a good sign. When he finally spoke, his voice was grim. "It's hard to determine exactly. I would say...about 350 years, give or take 10 or 20 years. From what I've gathered, things were shaky after the fall of Cocoon. Settlements were scattered. Some of them properly kept track of time, others didn't. Either way, there was a gap in time before attempts at rebuilding began where nobody alive today is quite sure what happened."

'_350 years?!_' Hope thought. No. That was impossible. They couldn't have been in crystal stasis for that long.

"And what about you?" Lightning demanded. "How are you still here?"

Cid seemed to hesitate at the question. "Same as you," he finally replied. "I was in crystal stasis. I awoke around 5 months ago."

"With a Focus?" Lightning asked, realizing that Cid might be able to provide some insight into their own Focus.

Again, Cid hesitated. "You could say that. My brand...though...well..." He paused for a moment before reaching for the glove on his right hand. Slowly pulling it off, he held up his wrist, showing the mark of a Cocoon l'Cie – only, his brand was completely white.

"It hasn't advanced at all," Cid sighed, putting the glove back on. "I don't know why...but...it hasn't. Not since I awoke."

"What was your Focus?" Lightning asked, sounding less impatient than before. More so, she seemed curious.

"To...be honest, I'm not sure what exactly it was. I do know, though, that I saw..." Cid seemed to hesitate. Nonetheless, the words that came out of his mouth left Lightning feeling spooked. "To be entirely honest, I saw you and Estheim. I've actually been searching for you two," he said, looking surprisingly nervous as he rubbed his wrist. "When I heard a rumor about two l'Cie coming through the area, I came here to investigate. It wasn't you two, like I had hoped. I had this feeling, though, that if Serah and Snow had come through here, that you two would as well. That's why I've stayed."

"And you can use magic?"

Again, Cid nodded. "I can't say I know why you and Mr. Estheim can't."

"What about Serah?" A look of concern flashed across her features as her gaze wandered to the floor. "You say we can't get to Oerba without magic. Could she use it?"

"I honestly don't know," Cid sighed, looking apologetic.

Lightning glanced away. She didn't look too pleased. As straight-forward as his answers had been thus far, she had this nagging feeling that he wasn't telling them the entire truth. Not only that, but the information he had provided about Serah wasn't exactly encouraging. 8 or 9 months ago? She could be anywhere by now.

Hope, on the other hand, looked utterly shocked. He had barely heard the rest of the conversation. The words were still sinking in – 350 years. 350 years had passed since their own time. That meant almost everyone he knew – everyone he had ever cared about – was dead: his friends, his teachers, even his father. As badly as he had gotten along with his father, the news that he was dead still stunned him.

He stood up. "How do we know you're telling the truth?" he demanded, looking angered as he pointed accusingly at Cid. "How do we know you're not just...just making this all up?!"

Cid smiled, looking almost sad, as he turned to Hope. "I suppose you don't. Ask yourself, though, why I would go through the trouble to deceive when you could ask anyone else here – anyone else anywhere – and get a consistent answer similar to mine?"

Hope hung his head, his entire body shaking. Then, his movements haggard, he moved to the door and swung it open before marching out into the hall. Lightning could only let out a sigh as she watched the teenager leave.

An awkward silence filled the room as the two remaining occupants stood there. Finally, Cid spoke. "Is there any other information you would like me to convey, Miss Farron?"

"No. I don't think so," Lightning said, shaking her head. Then, without another word, she walked past him, heading towards the open door. Cid remained silent. Only a slight tug at the corner of his lips as she slipped out of the room suggested he was having any reaction what had just happened.

* * *

Hope climbed a water drain before settling atop the roof of the building. His mind was racing, his heart beating in rhythm with his thoughts like some sort of mantra chanting the same two words over and over again: 350 years, 350 years, 350 years.

He didn't understand why he was so upset – why this news bothered him so much. It shouldn't have been something that had come as such a shock. The signs had been there. He just hadn't wanted to believe them – to believe that he had really been in crystal stasis for so long and that the world as he knew it was completely gone. Perhaps he was overreacting. The life he knew had ended the second he had witnessed his mother fall from that bridge. Now, though, it seemed like the last connection he had left – the last thread he could possibly use to hold onto the smallest piece his old life – had slipped away completely. No matter how he looked at it, he had lost everything.

Hope curled into a ball, wrapping his arms around his legs and burying his head into the gap in-between them as he tried to hold back a sob. It came out as a muffled whimper. He found his mind wandering back to the question that had been haunting him since he had first become a l'Cie: why him? Why was all of this happening to him?

It was a question Hope couldn't answer – perhaps because there was no answer. Logically, there was no reason. It had been chance. Fang and Vanille could have awoken at any time as far as he knew. He could have chosen not to go to Bodhum with his mother – not to follow Vanille into that Pulse vestige. Any set of actions he had taken could have led to a different outcome. In the end, though, it didn't matter. This was his new reality and he couldn't change it. Perhaps that was what he had the hardest time accepting: that he couldn't do anything to change the situation he was now living through. Just as he hadn't wanted to accept his mother's death – had wanted to fight against it – he didn't want to accept that this was it. Everything that had meant anything to him was gone and there was nothing he could do about it.

Hope wasn't entirely sure how long he sat there, pondering his situation. After a while, though, he heard footsteps on the roof, followed by a familiar voice. "Hope..."

Hope looked up. Lightning was standing there, something tucked under her arm as she looked at him. "I thought you might want something to wear," she said, sitting down next. With a start, Hope realized that he was still in his boxers. A blush creeped upon his face as he accepted the clothing. It wasn't much: just his pants, a new black T-shirt, and a bandana. Feeling rather abashed, he dressed himself, sitting back down and curling into a ball again when he was finished. Realizing he had been walking around half-naked wasn't exactly a big help to his already sour mood.

For several minutes, they simply sat together in silence, Lightning looking out over the compound while Hope continued to struggle internally with his new reality.

"What's eating at you?" Lightning finally asked.

Hope looked up to her, a feeling of frustration washing over the teenager. "Doesn't it bother you at all?" he inquired.

"Doesn't what bother me?" Lightning raised an eyebrow at him.

"That our entire world is gone. That everybody we once knew is dead," he replied, a hint of exasperation in his tone.

Lightning paused. "I wouldn't say I'm happy about it."

Hope shook his head. "You don't understand," he murmured. "You haven't lost everything."

Lightning sighed. "If this is about your father, Hope, I'm sorry. I really am."

Hope huffed. "This isn't just about my father!" he retorted, his frustration turning into anger. "It's about everything! It's gone – it's all gone. Everybody, everyone, everything! They are all dead. Every single one of them!" He could feel hot tears stinging at the corners of his eyes. He didn't want to cry – not in front of Lightning. Yet here he was, completely losing his cool. He let out a sob before burying his head in his arms."There's nothing left for me," Hope whispered. "I've lost everything."

He felt a hand on his back. Looking up, he found himself staring into Lightning's firm, yet comforting, gaze. "That's not true," Lightning said, gently rubbing his back. "You still have yourself." Then, a little more softly than before, yet with a resolute firmness, she added, "...and you still have me."

For some reason, Hope felt goosebumps on his arms as she said those words. There was something about those words – something about the way she looked at him as she spoke them – that brought the feeling of butterflies to his stomach. His heart thrummed in his chest, the sound filling his ear drums with a loud steady beat.

The feeling only lasted for a moment, though, as before he could respond, a voice called out, "Hey. What are you two doing up there?"

Looking down off the roof, Hope found a guard standing down on the ground, his rifle pointed up at them. He could sense a tension emanating from Lightning as her grip on his back tightened. Looking over to her, he saw that she was glaring down at the guard.

"Just leave 'em," another guard called out from somewhere out of sight. "They're with Cid."

"If they're with Cid, than where the hell is Cid?" the first guard grunted.

"Beats me."

Hope shrugged Lightning's hand off his back before standing up. He wasn't in the mood for dealing with these guards. For now, he just wanted to get away from it all.

Jumping off the roof, he took one last look at Lightning before he walked off. He wasn't sure exactly where he was heading. Though part of him wanted to stay with Lightning, another part of him wanted to be alone and it was the part of him that wanted to be alone that won out – at least for now.

* * *

******AN: I hope Cid's characterization is okay. There's not nearly as much to work from as there is for Hope and Lightning. My beta, though, seemed to think it was alright so I hope it works for you guys too.**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: I'm still playing diligently through the game. I've gotten to the part of the game where I have to grind...and do boss battles with the pope. It's not the most fun part of the game. I put my Pet Shop Boys playlist on repeat, though, and I get by. **

**Anyway, this chapter is mostly character development. Well...at least that was the intention. Plot managed to sneak its way in there mid-way through. I tried to sort of write a fluffy scene too but...meh. I still feel kind of iffy about it. You guys tell me how you think it turned out.**

**Of course, I can't start a chapter without thanking everyone who has helped me with this fic along the way. People like my Beta, Alrynnas, for being an awesome Beta,and you guys, the readers, for keeping up with me, leaving reviews, etc. I'm glad it has significantly improved over the last two chapters for you Crowley. Your review is probably what really got me to want to try and improve it all in the first place, so really, I have you to thank.**

* * *

Chapter 7

It was the smell of food that finally brought Hope out of his hiding place. He wasn't exactly sure what time it was; it must have been past noon, though, because the sun was well into the sky.

He spent several minutes wandering around the compound before he finally found the source of the smell – it was a barbeque. A man stood before an open fire pit, cooking the meat of an unrecognizable creature as several of the guards stood around a nearby table, drinking, laughing, and bantering back and forth in a friendly manner.

Hope hid behind the trunk of a tree, his mouth watering slightly as he cautiously poked his head out, watching the scene before him.

"Your wife is what?" one of the men asked.

Another replied with something Hope didn't manage to catch and they all burst into laughter. He tuned the chatter out, not particularly caring about the subject of their conversation. His mind was on food and now that it was there, he realized he hadn't eaten since before the whole incident with the chocobo. His stomach constricted in pangs of hunger as he watched. He clutched it, not feeling so good. Part of him wasn't surprised that it had taken him so long to notice he was hungry. Between all the exercise he had gotten and the problem of not having a readily available food source that plagued his plight as a l'Cie, his stomach must have shrunken a size or two.

"There you are."

Hope nearly jumped when he heard the voice. Turning around, he found Lightning standing there, peeling an orange-like fruit as she looked at him.

"You scared me," Hope said. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest. How had Lightning found him so quickly?

"I've been looking for you," Lightning said, placing a hand on her hip, her gaze boring into him.

Hope blinked. "You've been looking for me?" The way she looked at him made him feel bashful.

"Of course. You took off without a word." She gave him a stern scolding look.

"I-I'm sorry," Hope apologized.

"It's fine," Lightning said, tossing the last of the peel to the side. "Just don't go running off like that again, okay?"

"I won't," Hope reassured her, though he wasn't entirely sure it was a promise he could actually keep.

She took a bite of the fruit, her gaze wandering over to the barbeque. "Are you hungry?" she asked when she was done chewing.

As if to answer for him, his stomach let out a growl. "A little." Hope's gaze fell to the ground.

"Wait here."

Before Hope could respond, she strode past him, heading right into the middle of the little gathering. Hope watched as she talked to the man at the fire pit. When she came back, she had a plate piled with food. "Here," she said, pushing it into his hand. Hope accepted, his mouth watering as the delicious smell of cooked meat wafted to his nose.

They settled down at a place near the fence. Here, a couple of smooth, rounded rocks made perfect seats under a large and slightly mangled tree.

Sitting down in the grass, his back against the rock, he glanced down at the plate of food before looking expectantly at Lightning, almost as if he were asking her for permission to eat.

Lightning snorted, looking up from her fruit. "What are you waiting for? Dig in."

Hope didn't hesitate for even a moment as he did exactly that. He wasn't sure what everything on his plate was, but he didn't really care. He wolfed it down before he could even taste it.

Lightning watched the scene, the slightest bit of amusement in her eyes. "_Guess this is normal for guys his age,_" she thought. He was, after all, a growing teenage boy. Still, it wasn't exactly the most endearing of things she had ever watched him do. "You know, the food's not going anywhere," Lightning commented.

Hope, realizing he probably wasn't eating with the most tact of manners, felt sheepish. He gave her an awkward half-smile, his cheeks tinted a slight shade of red. He knew everything was okay when Lightning returned his smile with one of her own. It was a pleasant surprise. He hadn't seen Lightning smile since they had awoken from crystal stasis. Something about it made his heart do a little flip.

Finishing her fruit, Lightning stretched her arms, considering Hope as he cleaned off the last of his own plate. She wanted to approach him about what had happened earlier. She could tell this was hard for him. She wanted to make sure he was alright – that he wasn't going to keep it bottle up inside. If she had learned anything from him, it was that keeping emotions bottled up like that had the potential to end in disaster.

"Are you alright now, Hope?" she finally asked.

A dark look clouded his features as he considered those words and, for a moment, Lightning wondered if she should have waited a little longer before asking. "I'll survive," he murmured meekly.

Lightning shook her head. "That's not enough." Her lips curved into a frown. "I need to know that you're going to be okay. If there's something you need to get off your chest..." she trailed off, glancing away from him.

Hope wasn't entirely sure what to say. Part of him was still struggling with the fact that his world was crumbling around him.

Lightning sighed. "What I said before about your father-" she tried.

Before she could finish, Hope let out an involuntary shudder. Lightning winced, realizing she was perhaps approaching the subject too bluntly. "I'm not trying to make this painful, Hope," her voice was a little softer – a little more gentle – than before. "I just..." she struggled, for a moment, to come up with the words to explain. "I don't want your grief to be a burden."

Hope's gaze wandered to the ground. When he thought about it – about his father's death – he felt a steady tinge of sadness. As much as he had disliked him – disliked the way he made his mom sad, the way he had chosen his job over his family – he was still the man that had conceived him. Whether he liked it or not, there was a bond between them – the bond of blood tied them together. No matter how much he tried to convince himself otherwise, part of him knew, deep down, that even if he hadn't always been there to show it, his father had cared deeply for both of them.

Hope was rather taken aback when Lightning suddenly pulled him into a hug. For a moment, he was paralyzed by surprise. Then, with hesitation, he wrapped his arms around her neck and leaned in, resting his head against her shoulder. "It will be alright, Hope," he heard her murmur into his ear. Hope believed her. When he was with her – in her arms like this – he couldn't see how anything could go wrong. All he could think about was how nice it felt to be close to Lightning. He could feel his entire body heating up in response to her touch, his heart hammering in his chest like a metronome as her soft hair tickled his ear. He didn't understand what is was that made him feel this way – made him want to be close to Lightning like this. Whatever it was, though, there was a disappointment when she finally pulled away.

"If you're finished eating," she said, "I think you should go rest up."

"I'm not tired," Hope responded sulkily. Though his shoulder still hurt like heck, he couldn't imagine himself lying down. He was feeling far too restless and, even if that hadn't been the case, he didn't want to go. He wanted to stay here with Lightning – wanted to stay here in the shade of the tree, alone with her, where his thoughts wouldn't wander back to the more unpleasant aspects of their situation.

Lightning wouldn't have any of that. "After a wound like the one you received, you need to take it easy," she stated, tapping him on the chest.

Hope let out a slight squeak at the motion, his face again heating up. "C-Could you at least stay with me?" he ventured, realizing, only after he had gotten the question out, just how juvenile his request must have sounded.

Lightning sighed. "You're not going to ask me to read you a bed time story are you?" It took Hope a moment to realize she was joking. It wasn't something he hadn't been expecting. Again, Hope was struck with how different Lightning was when she dropped her whole soldier facade. Though he admired the soldier part of her – aspired to be strong like it – he also appreciated when he got to see the part of Lightning that was more vulnerable – the part of her that dared to show the emotions that made her human. Something about seeing that – seeing that Lightning was human too, lifted his own mood, despite the fact that she was obviously teasing him.

"Do you have the one about the ugly chocobo chick?" he ventured. Though he looked a little nervous, there was a slight hint of mischief in his teal-green eyes.

Lightning rolled her own eyes before reaching over and flicking him on the forehead. A smile spread across his face, his eyes bright and eager, and Lightning felt a smile tugging at the corner of her own lips. "You know, I'm not your-" Lightning started, but stopped.

Hope must have realized what she was about to say too for his expression fell. Lightning mentally slapped herself. Caught up in the moment, she had said it without thinking – without considering the consequences. It hadn't been a tactful thing to say at all. Now that it was out, though, there wasn't much she could do to fix it.

An awkward silence fell over the two. The former soldier shifted uncomfortably. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Hope's right hand crossed over his chest as he nervously rubbed his left arm.

"Just take it easy, Hope," Lightning finally said.

"You know it's not like you can't say her name," Hope murmured. His voice was soft, yet tainted with a subtle pain. He knew that both of them knew that wasn't the issue. It was the context in which the word "mother" had nearly been brought up. After her untimely death, it somehow didn't seem right to use the word so playfully – to use it in such a carefree manner. Besides, while Lightning was, in a way, acting as a surrogate mother to him, she was right, she wasn't exactly his mother – or even like a mother to him. What she was like, Hope couldn't really say. "Mother", though, didn't fit the description.

He heard a heavy sigh. "Just forget I said anything," she said. Standing up, she took several steps forward before looking back. While part of her wanted to end the conversation there and simply forget about her embarrassing gaff, another part of her saw the hurt in his eyes, saw that he still needed her. He still needed someone to be there for him. "Are you going to be okay, Hope?"

"I...I think I will but.." Again, he hung his head, his eyes filled with a sad sort of innocence that made Lightning's heart constrict slightly.

She sighed. "How about this: I bring you something to lie down on and you can rest out here with me while I train".

Hope looked up, his eyes lighting up despite the reddish coloration that continued to tint his cheeks. "If it's not too much trouble..."

Lightning reached out a hand to ruffle his hair. "Don't worry about it, okay?"

Hope nodded, his lips curving into the smallest hint of a smile. Still, there was a subtle sadness to it that made her wonder if he really was going to be okay.

* * *

When Cid finally found Hope and Lightning, Hope was sprawled on a blanket asleep. Lightning sat next to him, doing a little maintenance on her gunblade. Cid had returned it to her yesterday after going back to the scene. Apparently, after the fire fight, the nomads, as Mark and Bree turned out to be, had fled along with what hadn't been picked off of their chocobo flock, leaving almost everything behind. Cid had retrieved both their weapons and their supplies from a hollowed-out cavern inside a tree close to their camp site.

Lightning didn't hear the man until he cleared his throat. Looking up, she glanced at him briefly before returning to her work without a word.

Cid could see her body tense slightly as he took a seat next to her. "You can relax, Farron" he commented. "If my will was to put an end to your life, I would have carried it out already."

Lightning snorted. "Like to see you try..." he heard her mutter under her breath. Cid had to admit, he hadn't had much success the last time he had tried. Now, though, without magic – with only their own strength to defend them – they were far more vulnerable. It wouldn't be too hard to do it. A spell like daze would bring them to their knees; then he could simply snap their necks. This was why he knew they wouldn't make it to Oerba without magic: Cie'th were there and Cie'th had powerful magic-based abilities. They wouldn't last long.

"How is Mr. Estheim's recovery coming along?" Cid asked, his gaze turning to Hope. He looked almost comical laying on his stomach, his head turned to the side and small stream of drool dripping from his mouth as he clutched the blanket Lightning had fetched for him, digging into the fabric with his fingers.

Suddenly, Lightning turned on him. "Why are you talking to me?" There was a mixture of anger and annoyance in her voice, disdain clear in her features.

"Do you still suspect me of malevolent intentions, Miss-" Cid started but was interrupted by her.

"I don't know what you want," she snapped, her voice filled with aggression, "But we're not friends. I don't know where you got the idea that you could just walk up to me and start making small talk."

The sound of their voices must have woken Hope up because he brought himself into a sitting position. "What's going on, Light?" he asked, rubbing his eyes as he looked between her and the former captain.

Lightning turned her gaze to Hope, the anger in her eyes softening just a little. "It's nothing, Hope," she stated. "Go back to sleep."

Cid rubbed the back of his head. She was stubborn, just like he remembered her being. It was a trait he respected in her. All the same, it was making it difficult for him to communicate effectively with her. "I suppose, then, since my presence isn't welcome, I'll go ahead and take my leave." He stood up, giving them both a curt nod before walking off, his trench coat flapping behind him.

Even as he left, there was the smallest hint of a smile on his face, and something about it bothered Lightning.

Hope was silent, watching Cid's retreating form. When he finally was out of sight, he turned to Lightning. "What was that all about?" he asked, feeling slightly confused. He had only caught the last part of the encounter but he could sense tension in the former soldier.

Lightning sighed. "It was really nothing, Hope," she said. Again, she reached out, placing the palm of her hand flat against his chest and pushing him back down onto the blanket. "Just rest. Don't worry about it."

Hope felt a blush creeping up onto his face as she pushed him back. While he was curious about what he had just missed, he let it go. Whatever qualms Lightning had with Raines, he was on her side and that's all that really mattered.

* * *

Lightning shivered slightly as she removed the last of her clothing. Grabbing the towel from the nearby rack, she quickly wrapped it around her bare naked body. This still wasn't her ideal of a bath. All the same, it felt good to clean after a long day of work. She used to enjoy taking showers; they helped her relax far more than smoking ever had for the brief amount of time she had taken up that habit.

Taking the wash cloth out of the wet soapy basin, she wrung it with her hands before taking it to her body. The warm cloth felt great as she rubbed it over her skin, leaving it in a wet frothy coat of water and bubbles.

She started with her hair, moving onto her hands, feet, arms, legs, and face. When she was ready to wash her torso, she didn't hesitate to remove the towel. She brought the washcloth to her chest and began to sud herself up.

As she reached over to dip it back in the wash bin, she suddenly went motionless. She found herself looking at her own reflection in the water and what she was seeing made her blood freeze. Her brand looked...different.

Washing the suds off her chest, she examined the brand on her own skin, her fingers timidly hovering over the mark. She could see it had advanced a surprising amount since she had last looked at it, arrows beginning to branch out from what she recognized as a newly opened eye. For some reason, she recalled Fang saying that a nasty shock could make the brand advance more quickly; but whatever it could have been that had caused such a shock for her was something she couldn't recall. Had it been Hope getting shot? She hadn't noticed the brand this far along when she had washed up yesterday. What about the news Cid had delivered to them today? But she hadn't really taken it that badly, at least not as badly as Hope had.

Lightning scrubbed down the rest of her body and rinsed, trying to finish things up as quickly as possible. When she was done, she pulled on her clothes and opened the door, turning to her right. She was deep in disconcerting thought so she was surprised when she heard a voice. "Light?"

Turning around, she found herself looking at Hope. He was holding a towel under his arm.

"Here to wash up?" Lightning asked.

Hope nodded. "I was told I could take a bath here but there was already someone else inside so I figured I would just wait." he said, twiddling his thumbs, his head bowed slightly. "I didn't know it was you..."

Lightning nodded. "It's not exactly a bath but if you're planning to clean up, this is the place to do it." She briefly put a hand on his shoulder as she walked past, ready to leave. Before she could take more than a few steps, however, a thought occurred to her. "Hey, Hope," she said, turning to face him.

Hope froze in the doorway of the bathroom. "Yes, Light?" he asked in return, glancing back over his shoulder.

"Could I see your brand?"

"Sure." He looked a little confused but he took off the cloth that covered the brand and held it out to her.

Lightning gently grabbed his wrist, holding it up and studying the brand. It had advanced some, but it didn't look like it had quite advanced as far as her own. While some arrows had started to branch out, his own eye was still barely open – just a tiny slit through which she could see a pupil.

"How long do you think we have?" Hope asked, nervously scratching the back of his head with his free hand.

"I have no idea," Lightning responded, her eyes still on his brand. She was as much in the dark on the matter as he was. Again, her mind wandered back to her own brand. If Hope's brand hadn't advanced any more than hers had, that meant it hadn't been Cid's information that had made her brand advance. Hope, after all, had taken that news far worse than her. If it wasn't that, though, what could it have possibly been? Had she simply not been paying attention?

"Light?"

Upon hearing his voice, Lightning snapped out of her thoughts, turning her gaze to the boy. "Hope?"

"I'm just...uhh..." he stuttered. His face looked slightly flushed.

Lightning raised an eyebrow.

"Can I have my wrist back now?"

Realizing that she had been holding his wrist, she immediately dropped it. "Sorry, Hope," she apologized.

"It's okay." Hope rubbed his wrist.

Lightning turned to leave but, again, she found her movements halting after a few steps. She hesitated. "Thank you," she said after a moment's pause.

"You're welcome." Again, there was a pause. This time, though, it was Hope who broke the silence. "Why did you want to see it anyway? Did something happen?"

Lightning shook her head almost too quickly. She didn't want to turn around, didn't want to risk facing his inquisitive stare. "It's nothing, Hope. I just wanted to see how far along you were."

Hope didn't seemed inclined to question her further, something Lightning was grateful for. "Well...then...uh...see you later, Light," he said. Then, with a speed that mirrored Lightning's own lack of hesitation in answering his previous question, he stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

As Lightning left Hope to his sponge bath, something tugged at the back of her mind – perhaps the start of a question about why Hope seemed to be acting...off in a way she couldn't quite put her finger on. In the end, however, it faded before she could really give it any thought.

* * *

"We're leaving," Lightning announced.

Cid shook his head as Lightning worked on re-attaching the holster of her gunblade to her clothing."What about Estheim? You're not going to give him time to recover?" Cid asked the question in a very matter-of-fact manner.

"Unlike you, we don't have that kind of time," Lightning retorted. In the early morning, Hope was still resting. Cid probably would have still been resting too if he hadn't been awoken by Lightning's cursing as she tripped over something in the hallway.

"Does he know that your intentions are to leave this morning?" Cid asked.

Lightning froze for a moment before she spoke. "It doesn't concern you," she said, clipping on the final strap. Their brands were advancing faster than she had realized. This discovery made her even more impatient. She had to find her sister; not only for the sake of finding her sister, but also for the sake of figuring out their Focus. If Snow and her sister were l'Cie, they might be able to provide some insight into their own Focus. It was all they had to go on.

"I disagree."

Lightning abruptly rounded on him. "What does it matter to you?" she hissed.

Cid was silent for a moment. When he finally spoke, the words left Lightning wishing she hadn't asked. "It matters because I am going to be accompanying you."

Lightning scowled. "What makes you think you're welcome to do so?" she demanded.

He shook his head. "If I don't, the probability that you will survive, particularly without any sort of magical capability, is incredibly low".

Lightning snorted. "We've been doing fine so far."

"How long do you think your luck is going to hold out?" Though Cid seemed to be holding his cool on the outside, there was the smallest hint of exasperation in his voice – something that betrayed the fact that, despite his calm outer demeanor, he was slowly losing his patience.

"You think our survival is luck?"

"Pretty good luck. I know you're a trained soldier, Farron, but, out here – out in the wilderness of this feral, untamed world – there are dangers that you are unprepared to face. The people here are tough. They survive. But, even they stay away from Oerba because, without the magic of a l'Cie, it is a place of certain death. You're not going to survive long without it and magic is a department I can help you with. I have the proper abilities, and the proper equipment. I can even obtain manadrives for your personal use."

The last part got Lightning's attention. "Manadrives?"

Cid nodded. "Not many. It was a technology that was used a lot when people first fleeing Cocoon's demise arrived on Pulse. As people rebuilt and technology advanced, it was replaced by a different sort of device – one that let people store the ability right in the DNA of their own skin cells. It worked similar to the way you and I as l'Cie draw our powers from our brands. The Pandemic, though, changed that. The technology to do such a thing was lost and people have gone back to using manadrives. Still, manadrives, being as scarce and as hard to make as they are, are a bit tricky to obtain. Fortunately, as previously stated, that is something I can help you with."

Lightning crossed her arms over her chest. "You know an awful lot about a world you've only been in for 5 months," she commented.

Cid shrugged, looking slightly amused by her statement. "I thought, as a soldier, you would know that survival in an unfamiliar setting can depend entirely on how much you can learn about your surroundings."

"Like the history of human technological advancement in the last 350 years?" Lightning didn't miss a beat and Cid didn't miss the sarcasm in her voice.

"Well it is kind of a personal interest of mine," Cid admitted. "History, I mean."

"So where are these manadrives?" Lightning asked, changing the subject.

"Come with me and I will show you." The man stood up, walking over to the door of the small room and swinging it open. Standing to the side, he turned his gaze to Lightning. Lightning, in turn, stood there, looking at him impatiently, waiting for him to lead her to these manadrives.

Seeing that Lightning didn't appear to be moving, he smirked. "Ladies first," he said, bowing his head slightly.

Lightning snorted. "Don't patronize me, Raines." She still wasn't budging from her spot.

Getting that Lightning wasn't going to move unless he went first, Cid stepped into the hallway. He still kept his hand on the door, holding it open for her.

Rolling her eyes, Lightning stepped through the door.

Several hallways later, they arrived at what Lightning assumed was their destination. It was a slightly smaller room than Cid's own room, more like a closet than an actual room. The entire length of the wall was covered with shelves, boxes with various labels lining these shelves. She could see things like "WICKED FANG" and "TORN LEATHER" written on these labels.

At the other side of the room was a door and it was this door that Cid opened.

The room that greeted them was much larger than the last one. It looked almost like a garage. She could see various machines and parts scattered on the floor and in the middle of it all was a woman. She seemed to be tampering with electrical wiring on the inside of some sort of vehicle. She turned to them. Her skin was a light caramel-brown, similar in tone to Sazh's, and her hair a chin-length brilliant magenta-purple. She looked to be an older woman, in her late 30s or early 40s.

"You're up awfully early, Raines," she commented, swinging a screw driver in her hand. "Is that one of the kids you picked up in that raid the other day?" Lightning couldn't help but flinch. She didn't just look like Sazh, she talked like him.

Cid nodded. "Martha, Lightning. Lightning, Martha."

She turned around and stood up, putting one hand on her hip as she offered the other one to Lightning. Lightning hesitated for a moment before taking the woman's hand in her own. Her grip was firm. After several seconds, the former soldier pulled away.

"May I ask a favor of you?" Cid asked.

"A favor? What kind of favor, hun?"

"We're interested in borrowing a couple of manadrives from your collection."

"You want to borrow my manadrives?" Martha asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Yes, please."

A knowing smile formed on the woman's face. "You finally leaving, Raines?"

Cid nodded.

"Ya know Bradley won't be pleased if you just take up and leave with his equipment right?"

"My apologies. There's something important that I must pursue."

Martha shrugged. "I suppose it's the least I can do, considering how much you've helped me with my research."

The woman led them across the room to a cupboard. Taking a key out from her pocket, she unlocked and opened it up. Inside, Lightning could see the shelves neatly lined with bracelet-like digital devices that she recognized as manadrives.

"Lets see," Martha said. "Some of these are still bugged. What are you interested in?" She turned to Cid.

"Elemental magic" Cid responded. "If you have any curative magics, that would also be of great help."

"I don't know about curative magic, but we have manadrives for Firaga, Thundaga, and Blizzaga."

"Those are perfect."

"Let's say I lend you these three and we call it even." She finished the sentence with a smirk.

Only the smallest crinkle at the corner of his eye indicated that their exchange was evoking any emotion. "It is a deal."

Lightning listened to the entire converation in silence. She had no idea what history Cid had with this woman, nor did she particularly care. Right now, a debate was raging in her head.

Was she really going to let Cid come with them? This was the man who had betrayed them – the man whose attempt on their lives had nearly destroyed them. Were they really going to trust him in the field of combat? A man who, she wouldn't be surprised to discover, had a few screws loose?

On the one hand, she could see how he could be useful. He had access to power that she and Hope, for some reason, didn't. Like he said, if they got into a sticky situation, they might really need his help.

On the other hand, she wasn't sure she could trust him not to turn against them. She had no idea what his true intentions were. He had indicated he had had a vision about them. She assumed that was why he wanted to come with – because they were a part of his Focus. At the same time, she had this feeling there was something he was leaving out. The hesitation, the subtle hints of uncertainty on his face as he had told them about his Focus; maybe it was just her, but she had this creeping feeling that he was hiding something from them – that he wasn't telling them the entire truth. That, in itself, was dangerous. They were dealing with something risky – something that could backfire on them, that could end up getting them killed.

In the end, though, she wasn't sure if there was much of a choice. What if they truly did run into something terrifying – something that their strength alone couldn't handle? Though she had tried to show Cid up – tried to assure him that she could handle anything – deep down, the practical part of her was telling her otherwise. He was right. Some enemies were nearly, if not totally, impossible to defeat without magic. The Behemoth king was a good example. It was nearly impossible to kill without being staggered, and to stagger it, you had to be able to hit it with magic.

She and Hope had already each nearly lost their lives once. Would they be able to survive their next brush with death?

"Lightning."

Lightning snapped out of her thoughts just in time to catch the manadrive he threw her. "I assume your intention is to depart as soon as it is possible. Am I correct?"

Lightning nodded, her features stone cold as she looked at the man.

"Do I now have your permission to accompany you and Mr. Estheim on your journey?"

Lightning sighed. "Do I really have a choice?" she asked. The question was meant to be a rhetorical one.

Cid seemed to understand. "In that case, I will go prepare us some mounts. Meet me outside by the barn as soon are you are prepared to depart."

"You're not going to pack?"

"I have already done so."

Lightning felt a slight annoyance at his confidence – that he was so sure he would be leaving with them, that he had already packed. Then again, when she thought about it, in the end, if she had said no, would she really have been able to stop him? If he was that determined, short of killing him, she didn't really see any way she could.

Cid cleared his throat, bringing Lightning's attention back to him."I suggest you awake Mr. Estheim and grab a bite to eat," he said. "We have a long journey ahead of us."

* * *

**AN: I actually have nothing to say. It feels strange though to end without something here.**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: I meant to have this chapter out a little sooner but a friend of mine, who knows i'm a HopexLight fan, reccomended I watch the Anime "Claymore" so that's kind of been a distraction. It's pretty awesome so far and...well...as this friend of mine pointed out, the two main protagonists (Raki and Clare) bare some striking similarities to Hope and Lightning, so what's not to love?**

**Anyway, i'm not much of a fan of how this chapter turned out but I hope you guys like it. As always, thanks to my reviewers and my beta for all the support. You guys are awesome.**

* * *

Chapter 8

_It was dark – too dark. He could barely make out its shape in the dim light – the large, sinister, and looming thing that hung at the edge of his vision. He was paralyzed, unable to turn to face the creature fully. He could hear a metal clank as something solid was dragged across the floor, footsteps echoing along with the noise in the darkness. _Clank. Clank. Clank._ His blood was pumping rapidly through his veins, his pulse quickening, and his heart now beating 1000 miles a minute._

"Hope?"

_Then, suddenly, he saw it; directly in front of him, a pair of eyes glowed ominously in the darkness._

"Hope!"

_Without looking, without having to see it fully, he knew what it was – knew it was the beast._

"HOPE!"

Hope bolted awake, his breath coming out in short gasps. He automatically brought a hand to his chest, feeling the heavy beating of his heart as he tried to calm his nerves. It took a moment for his eyes to focus. Lightning was hovering above him. "Light?" he murmured.

Lightning gave him a look of concern. When she had entered the room, she had found him twisting about, his body in a cold sweat as he murmured something about his Focus. She felt herself hesitating as she looked down at him. He looked so vulnerable, his eyes wide open as he gazed innocently up at her with those teal-green pupils of his, still in a state somewhere between dream and reality. Yesterday, she had felt herself drawn towards him, wanting to comfort him. Now, though, sleep-deprived and with her mind set on getting out of here, she was less inclined to coddle him.

"It's time to get up, Hope."

"Why?" Hope asked, blinking. The call of sleep still weighed heavily on him. He wanted to pull the covers over his head and let it take over.

Lightning didn't hesitate to yank the covers off of him the moment she saw an opening. "We're leaving now," she said.

"L-l-leaving w-where?" Hope stuttered, fumbling about as he tried to pull the covers back over himself. He was nearly naked. Though Lightning had already seen him in his boxers, he felt a blush creeping onto his face.

Lightning, on the other hand, seemed to have no regard for his privacy."Leaving here," was all she answered with. She picked his clothes off the floor, where he had discarded them last night before crawling into bed, and threw them at him. "Get dressed."

Hope sighed, reaching up and pulling his shirt off his head where it had landed. Lightning was so unpredictable. One minute she could be warm and amiable, then cold and unforgiving the next.

Though he still didn't know what she meant by 'leaving here', he pulled on his clothing, which included the jacket that Cid had brought for him last night. It wasn't quite like his old jacket. It was more of a military jacket – similar to Sazh's. Though a little heavy and oversized, it was snug and Hope had accepted it as a replacement for the old jacket that Lightning had ruined when she had tried to save him. While he had ruined his clothing many times as a l'Cie, he had always had the ability to buy replacements through the retail network. With all the components they gathered and sold, it was cheaper than it ever would have been with his parents. Now, though, as far as he could tell, the retail network no longer existed. He would have to make due with what he could get.

As he followed Lightning into the hall, Hope found his thoughts wandering back to the dream he had been awoken from. It had been different – not like the other dreams where the beast had been rampaging through the streets, killing soldiers and civilians. Here, it had just been there – hiding in the dark. Something about it struck him as more distinct. He wasn't quite sure how to describe it. In a way, it seemed almost...real – ominously so. While, in the other dreams, there had been this sense of haziness, here, everything had been so sharp – so in focus. It was eerie.

A blast of cool air hit him as they left the building. It was still dark. There was a faint glow on the eastern horizon – the first signs of morning. The sun itself had yet to peak out from behind the hills, leaving the landscape swathed in a curtain of darkness. As they approached the barn, he could see a figure standing outside, their attention focused on two chocobos. He nearly halted when they got close enough for him to make out the figure's features. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. What was Raines doing out here?

Cid raised his hand in greeting. Lightning didn't bother to return the gesture. "Just two?" she said as soon as he was within ear shot, eying the two large yellow birds in front of them.

"I figured Estheim could ride with one of us," Cid responded, his eyes on the birds.

The pieces were falling together for Hope, but he didn't want to believe it. "We're leaving? With _him_?" He brought his gaze to Lightning.

"It wasn't an easy call." She turned her face away, almost as if she were afraid to look at him.

As the words sank in, Hope couldn't stop the frown that slowly tugged at his lips. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. Lightning, of all people, had actually made such a decision? "Have you gone crazy?" The words came tumbling out before he could reconsider.

Lightning glowered, seeming displeased with his questioning of her judgment. "We can talk about this later," she said, trying to brush him off.

"No," Hope responded. "I want to talk about this now." He wasn't sure what was making him so abrasive. In a way, he felt angry – angry that Lightning had made this decision without consulting him. He thought they were in this together. Why hadn't Lightning bothered to mention this to him?

"We don't have time to talk about this now," Lightning snapped.

"Well then make the time!"

"No, Hope. As I said before, we'll talk about it later." Lightning looked like she was trying to hold down her temper.

Hope didn't care. He wanted answers. He wanted to know why Lightning seemed to have no regard for how he might feel about Cid; why his opinion – his feelings – apparently didn't matter to her. "No! I want to know why you decided _he_ could come! Why didn't you ask me how I felt about it, Claire!" It was an impulse, using Lightning's real name. As soon as it was out, though, he couldn't help but wonder if he had gone too far.

Lightning froze, her shoulders bunching up. Then, rather abruptly, she rounded on him, her eyes filled with anger. "_He_ saved your life," she snapped, her tone sharp and absolute, leaving no room for argument.

Hope fell silent, a mixture of shock and disbelief clear on his face. Despite having just questioned his own actions, he couldn't help but feel his blood boiling. She was actually defending Raines? While the logical part of his mind suggested that she was feeling conflicted about it – that her abrasive reaction had been to hide the uncertainty she was experiencing with her own decision – the emotional part of his mind – the part of him that was fond of Lightning – was reeling, feeling both angry and hurt by the harshness with which she had delivered those words.

Even more so, there was another feeling, something akin to jealousy – jealousy that Lightning would choose to defend Raines over him. He knew it was stupid – knew that Lightning hated Raines just as much as he did. All the same, the feeling bubbled inside him, leaving a bitter resentment within his chest.

He looked away. "I'm sorry," he muttered. Then, without another word, he pushed past the two of them and ran off.

Cid remained silent, his expression betraying no reaction to the exchange that had just transpired. With Hope gone, he turned to Lightning. She looked incredibly frustrated. "We have to leave as soon as possible. These chocobo are not mine to take. If we stay too long, we are going to run into trouble."

Lightning groaned. Right now, she didn't have the patience to put up with Hope, not when he was pulling this kind of bull crap. She realized, though, that if they wanted to leave in a timely manner, she would have to say something.

It didn't take her long to find the boy. He was curled into a ball on the other side of the barn, his head tucked into his arms. Several bleating sheep surrounded him. He didn't seem to be paying them any attention. The sheep backed up a little as Lightning walked through and sat down next to him.

"Hope," she started, unsure how she was going to make this up to him. Hope didn't look up and Lightning found herself growing impatient. "Hope, we have to get going." The teenager continued to ignore her and Lightning felt her anger growing.

Something deep inside her, however, told her to be patient with him. She didn't understand why he was upset. She tried to think back, tried to remember what he had said that might betray why he was so angry about this. He didn't like Cid; that much was clear. What was it, though, about the situation that would provoke such an irrationally heated reaction? Then, she remembered – remembered him asking her why she hadn't consulted him about it first.

"Listen Hope," she tried, "I'm sorry I didn't ask you about it."

Hope looked up, his teal-green eyes focused on hers. He still looked angry but at least it was a start.

"I hate this as much as you do," she continued, "but there isn't much of a choice. Remember when you got shot? Well, it's because of Raines that you are still alive. Sooner or later, we're going to end up in a similar situation and we'll need somebody with curative magic."

"Why him?" was Hope's response, a look in his eyes so intense that Lightning wasn't sure how to feel about it.

"Who else are we going to turn to, Hope? Do you know of any other l'Cie willing to volunteer their time and energy to watch our backs?" There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice, despite the sincerity of the question.

"Why do we need someone to watch our backs at all? We don't need him! We can look out for each other!"

Lightning was slightly taken aback by just how upset he looked. She sighed, trying to calm her nerves. '_Perhaps I should try a different approach__,_' she thought. "Hope," she said, taking him by the shoulders with one hand, the other hand gently cupping his chin as she turned his face towards hers. "Try putting yourself in my shoes. Imagine the person you're supposed to be protecting nearly dying in your arms. If you could prevent that, even with a risk, wouldn't you make the decision to let him come along too?" Lightning flattened her lips into a straight line, a serious expression on her face as she tried to communicate to him just how important this was.

Hope's eyes softened a little and Lightning felt a small sense of relief. She had to make sure that he understood – understood why she had, despite her distrust for the man, decided to let Cid come along.

"Do you understand, Hope?" Lightning asked.

Hope looked away. "I guess," he said after a moment. When he tried to put himself in her shoes – tried to imagine her nearly dying in his arms like that – it did put things in perspective. The idea of Lighting dying at all was terrifying. What was even more terrifying, however, was the sudden realization that such a scene could became reality. Next time, it might not be him dying in Lightning's arms but, rather, Lightning dying in his. When he thought about it that way – thought about protecting Lightning's life – having Cid come along didn't seem like such a bad idea after all.

"I promise, we can have a full discussion about it later if you want" Lightning said when Hope didn't respond. "For now, though, we need to get out of here."

"There's no need," Hope murmured softly, standing up. His gaze wandered down to Lightning. "I understand now," he said, a glint of determination in his eyes.

Lightning felt a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Let's get going then."

* * *

Cid greeted them with a nod when Lightning returned with Hope in tow.

"I have something for you, Estheim," Cid said. Pulling a manadrive out of his pocket, he tossed it to Hope.

Hope fumbled slightly trying to catch it. Once it was in his hands, he studied it. "What is this?"

"It's a manadrive. You'll be able to use Firaga," Cid answered.

"Firaga," Hope repeated. On a personal level, Hope was more partial to wind element spells. All the same, Fire had been the first spell he had ever learned. "Thanks...I guess," he mumbled.

Hope was glad Cid didn't grin and pat him on the back, or something, like Snow would have done. At least, in that regard, he didn't rub in the hatred Hope already felt for him.

"I've got everything in order," Cid said, standing next to a chocobo to which, Hope could see, he had attached a saddle with their belongings. "We just have to figure out who Estheim is going to ride with."

"I'll ride with Lightning," Hope instantly responded. The idea was far more appealing than riding with Cid. Hope, too, could see Lightning's look of approval as he verbalized his decision.

"Then, if everything is settled, I suggest we depart."

There was a general, though not very enthusiastic, nod of agreement, and the two parties proceeded to to mount their respective chocobo. Hope had no trouble getting onto the bird. It studied him with those two large rounded eyes before turning its head forward, seemingly unconcerned by the newest cargo on its back. Lightning soon joined him, her legs tucked in slightly as she straddled the bird. At first, Hope felt a bit awkward pushed up against her from behind. Like yesterday, he could feel his body heating up in response to being in direct contact with her. He hesitated, unsure what exactly to grab as Lightning pulled on the reigns and the chocobo began to move.

"Put your arms around my waist."

Hope looked up for confirmation that he had just heard what he thought he had heard but the only sight that met him was the back of her head. Hope hesitated. As the chocobo broke into a trot, however, he found his arms automatically closing around her waist for support.

They left with the faintest hint of the sun peeking over the eastern horizon. They didn't have to worry about going past any security; the chocobos easily cleared the barbed wire fence. Lightning felt the grip around her waist tightening slightly as they made the bumpy landing against the earth. Glancing back over her shoulder, she could see a head of messy silver hair. His breath felt warm against her back as he buried his face into the fabric of her clothing.

Something rumbled deep within her chest. Lightning wasn't sure what it was. It was the same feeling she had gotten when she had caught Hope looking at her with reverence after they had been captured by that woman and her brother. It was still a feeling she didn't understand. As she had last time, she tried to push it away. All the same, it wormed its way into her heart, lingering on the edge of her mind as they pushed forward.

The trio followed the train track into the foothills. They fell into formation, Lightning and Hope leading up front while Cid took the rear. They were silent as they rode, a silence that was broken only by the occasional _wark_ of their chocobos or the cry of a beast piercing through the thick underbrush. They were lucky – not only were the chocobos very maneuverable, making hacking away at the vegetation that covered the train tracks unnecessary, they also made it so companions didn't have to tangle with monsters. What normally would have taken them a day hacking through underbrush and fighting monsters on foot only took them a few hours by chocobo.

As the day wore on, she could feel the ground gradually sloping upward. The forest, too, seemed to be getting sparser, being replaced more and more by open fields. It was a nice change of pace. In a way, the jungle had felt claustrophobic. Here, though, she could see the sky above her, the brilliant blue clashing against the backdrop of the mountains. The entire continent of Cocoon was now obscured behind the towering peaks. Lightning wasn't sure if this was a good or a bad thing. While the sight of the continent, in a way, was comfortingly familiar, it was also an unpleasant reminder of their not-so-thrilling fate.

As the sun rose to its highest point, marking noon, they stopped by a creek to let the chocobos take a rest and have something to drink. The birds were still filled with energy, stamping their feet and going as far as their tied-down reigns would allow them. They seemed to have taken a liking to Hope as they continued to nudge him even after he had dismounted.

Cid reached into the sack hanging off his chocobo's saddle and pulled out an apple. Hope's eyes widened. It wasn't one of those weird Pulse fruits he kept encountering, or even the orange-like fruit he had seen Lightning eat. It was an honest to goodness apple.

Cid seemed to notice Hope was staring. With the slightest hint of a smirk on his face, he brought out a knife, cutting the apple in half and slicing out the seeds in the middle before handing one of the halves to the teenager.

For a moment, Hope hesitated. Then, like a feral pigeon exercising caution as it fed off seeds on the flattened palm of a human hand, he snatched the apple from Cid. Though he hadn't eaten since last night, and his stomach was growling, the part of him that knew what Cid was capable of doing was being cautious.

It was finally the action of Cid biting into his own half that dissuaded Hope from the idea that there was any danger. Cid, after all, wouldn't be eating it if it had been modified in any harmful manner. As Hope sank his teeth into his own half of the fruit, he enjoyed the tangy yet sweet flavor that embedded itself on his tongue, leaving a pleasant aftertaste.

"I'm going to scout ahead," Lightning abruptly announced, coming back from refilling her water bottle.

Cid gave her a curt nod. "Be careful, Farron."

Hope jumped up. "I'll come along," he volunteered.

Lightning shook her head. "No. You need to stay here and rest." She shot him a look, and Hope realized that she really was saying '_You need to stay behind and keep an eye on Cid_'. Hope wasn't entirely pleased with this but he didn't have the energy to argue.

As Lightning took off, he felt a nudge from behind. Turning around, he found it was their chocobo. Hope couldn't help but smile as the bird rubbed its beak all over him, almost as if it were searching. It took a moment for him to remember that he was still holding his partially eaten half of the apple.

Out of his peripheral vision, he saw Cid stand up. The man was tall – something that made Hope even more aware of his own short stature. He could hear his footsteps as Cid approached. The chocobo raised its head and Cid walked right up to it, giving it a pat on the head before offering it an apple. The chocobo plucked the fruit right out of his hand and swallowed it whole, a lump visible in its neck as the apple went down the bird's throat.

"I don't bite, Estheim."

Hope looked up at the mention of his name. Cid's eyes were still on the chocobo as he stood there. The teenager wasn't sure what to say. Lightning probably would have had some sort of clever sarcastic remark. Hope, however, wasn't Lightning.

He heard a hum. "She seems fond of you."

Hope's entire body went rigid, his pulse going into overdrive as he thought about the implications of those words. She was fond of him? What did that mean? Did Cid know something that he didn't? Or was it just that obvious? Either way, he found a familiar heat creeping onto his neck and crawling up his cheeks. Hope turned away, trying to hide what was probably a very red face.

The heat only increased when he heard a soft chuckle escaping from between his companion's lips. "Here," the older man said,"I would give her this."

Hope turned to face Cid and found him leaning down, an encouraging smirk on his face as he offered Hope an apple.

"W-why?" was all that managed to escape from between the boy's lips. Why did Cid want him to give her an apple?

"I assume you are planning to finish yours," was Cid's simple reply, his gaze wandering back to the chocobo.

It took Hope a moment for realization to sink in. The chocobo was a she; Cid had been referring to the chocobo. "T-thanks," Hope found himself stuttering, accepting the apple. Not because he was particularly thankful to the older man; more so, it was an automatic response as he found himself trying to calm the heavy beating of his heart. '_He was just talking about the chocobo_' he repeated to himself.

A silence fell over the two as Hope turned back to the chocobo; his rhythmic stroking of the feathers was as much to calm his own nerves as it was for the bird's benefit. It snuffed, quickly finding the apple in his hand and swallowing it whole.

Lightning soon returned from her scouting trip. "Just more of the same," she commented. Noticing both her male companions had their attention on the chocobo, she snorted. "You never struck me as the animal type, Raines."

"Is that so?" Cid asked as Lightning walked past him. "What type do I strike you as then, Miss Farron?" Something about the tone of his voice bothered Hope. It was almost...playful, like he was toying with her. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

Lightning paused for a moment, considering the question. "The type I would have beat up in high school," was her final response.

Surprisingly, Cid chuckled. "I was actually the captain the fencing squad and a runner on the track team. Still, I can't deny my participation in some of the more scholarly clubs such as chess, drama, and debate. Not all at once of course." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Lightning scoffed. "I rest my case." With that, she mounted her chocobo.

Hope couldn't hold back the smile that graced his lips as he followed suit, easily hauling himself up and settling behind Lightning on the bird. It was reassuring, hearing Lightning's sarcasm and sharp tongue being let loose on this man. Hope couldn't help but feel he deserved every bit of it.

Cid scratched the back of his head. "So then, shall we depart – see if we can put more distance behind us?"

Lightning didn't answer; she simply pulled on the reigns and took off.

Hope couldn't help but grin to himself as he watched the man disappearing behind them, struggling to clamber onto his own chocobo so he could keep up.

"He'll catch up."

Hope looked up at her. "How do you know?" he asked, tilting his head inquisitively.

"If he was this easy to get rid of, we would have done so already." Hope sighed. At least, though, for now, they were alone.

As they traveled onwards, Hope found his mind wandering back to the previous conversation. When he thought about her words – thought about the brief exchange with Cid – something clicked in his mind. "You...beat people up in high school?" he found himself asking. Though he he had spent less than a year there, and realized he would never get a chance to finish it, he couldn't help but wonder if he would have been the type of person Lightning would have beaten up. He hadn't, after all, been particularly high on the social hierarchy.

The sound of feet pounding against the ground and the wind whipping past his face intermingled with the sound of her voice."Just the ones who got on my nerves."

"And what kind of people got on your nerves?" Hope asked, his stomach fluttering lightly.

"The predatory kinds. Bullies, charmers, those sorts."

Hope felt himself relaxing. That definitely wasn't him. He had been more of the type to get bullied himself than be a bully. As for a charmer well...he really didn't have any experience in that department. "So, you were the type who stood up for the weak?" Hope ventured.

"Not exactly." Lightning let out a sound that was a mixture between a strained chuckle and a snort. "I was mostly looking out for myself. Well...myself and Serah." Her voice softened with that last sentence.

He felt her body tensing up in front of him. It was subtle, something he wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been pressed against her. Nonetheless, it was there – a tension that indicated to Hope that Lightning's mood had changed. '_She must miss her..._' he thought, his mind wandering to Serah. His only memory of her was her body lying on the floor of that Pulse vestige as she talked with Snow and Lightning right before she turned into crystal. Lightning, though, had to have a myriad of memories of her sister, both good and bad.

Was Lightning suffering more than she let on? She had certainly been angry when they had first reunited but, in the end, she had appeared to have let it go. Now, though, he couldn't help but wonder if she was really bottling her emotions up for his sake. Though he couldn't see her face or the expression that rested upon it, there had been an unmistakable pain in her voice as she spoke of her sister – a pain not even she could hide.

An idea occurred to Hope. For a moment, he hesitated, feeling uncertain. Then, before he could change his mind, he threw his arms around her waist – not for support but, rather, in a gesture of comfort. He leaned against her, resting his head against the nape of her neck. He could feel her tense up even further against him. Still, he was pleased that she didn't immediately shake him off or tell him to get off her. He squeezed her gently, unsure exactly what to say. He wanted to let her know she wasn't alone; that, no matter what, he would be there for her.

He knew everything was alright when she finally relaxed, taking one hand off the reigns to take his hand in hers and give it a tender squeeze of her own. Then, ever so gently, she took his wrist and moved his arm off her waist. "You don't need to worry about me Hope," she said. Though her voice was calm and even, not betraying any emotion on the surface, there was a hint of something – something Hope couldn't quite describe. None-the-less, it revealed emotion – revealed that his hug had brought something tangibly human out in her.

"I know I don't need to," Hope whispered, his gaze wandering somewhat bashfully groundward "but I want to."

* * *

They finally stopped for the evening in what looked to be the ruins of an old mining town. They were into the mountains at this point, the peaks rising above them from all sides. Here, the air was significantly cooler than it had been in the lowlands. The thick jungle had vanished almost completely, being replaced, instead, by short scrawny patches of trees among thick fields of grass and wild flowers.

The town itself really looked like a rough back-country place. The narrow path they had been following through the mountains for the later part of the day opened into a small v-shaped valley. Buildings perched precariously on several ledges going up the valley's side. They looked like they had been run-down in life. Now, the ones that hadn't already collapsed looked like they were on the brink of doing so. At the very bottom of these ledges was the train station. Further up along the slope and beyond the buildings, they could see caves and platforms – entrances to what had mostly likely once been mines.

As dusk fell across the land, they made their camp just outside the train station. Lightning used her gunblade to chop small bits of fire wood while Hope gathered twigs and Cid disappeared to do what he assumed was the same. Once things were set up, Hope was asked to do the honors of lighting the fire. Something felt good about being able to flick his wrist and create flames. While it didn't feel the same as being a l'Cie, where he drew the power from within himself, it was still very satisfying to see those logs and twigs flaring up in a hot blaze.

A silence settled over the three of them as they sat around the fire. It seemed to suit them all. None of them were exactly...extroverted types. Not like Snow or Fang had been. Hope remembered the two of them chatting everyone else's ears off on the nights all six of them had spent together as l'Cie. Vanille would always listen, eager to add things or pull him into the conversation when she had the chance. Every once in a while, Sazh would throw something in. Lightning, though, never spoke unless spoken to. She would always just sit on the edge, seemingly listening, but never adding anything herself.

There was a heavy feeling in his heart as he thought about it. He realized, in some ways, he missed them more than he let on – particularly Vanille. She had always tried to look out for him in her own odd way. He had enjoyed her company. She was so upbeat, so full of energy. She had known how to bring him up when he was down. Just thinking about it brought a smile to his face. When he thought, though, about her fate – about how he would probably never see her smile again, his own smile faltered. He would probably never see her or Fang again. Or Sazh for all her knew. Who could say for sure if Snow was even still around?

When he looked up, though – looked across the fire to the soft pink locks illuminated in the light of the flam – he knew he wasn't alone. His mind wandered back to that moment on the chocobo, to the moment he had hugged her from behind, and he remembered, just as she had him, he had her.

* * *

The fire had burnt down. Hope had long ago crawled into his sleeping bag, their simple meal of fruit and a couple of eggs that Cid had picked up sending him careening off into the gentle caress of sleep. Lightning, on the other hand, as exhausted as she was, wouldn't let herself sleep. Instead, she was having a staring contest with the newest member of their group.

The man sat across from her, a casual smirk on his face that she could just barely make out in the light of the dying fire. His eyes remained focused on her and hers were on him. She didn't trust him – trust him not to do something while they were asleep. She had to stay awake. She had to keep an eye on him. With shaky hands, she zipped open her small bag and pulled out another foul liquid. While they had very specific paralysis curing properties in battle, she had discovered that they also served the very convenient purpose of acting as a stimulant. She knew they would run out of them eventually. For now, though, they were practically what she was running on and in the absence of coffee or any other alternative; they were all she had. Lightning downed the tiny bottle, the liquid, true its name, leaving a foul taste on her tongue. She smacked her lips together with distaste before pulling out her water bottle and tilting it back, the contents pouring out into her mouth. She didn't take her eyes off Cid for a second.

"That's is not the clinically approved use for foul liquid, Farron" Cid said, an elbow propped atop his knee as he rested his chin on the balled up fist of his hand.

Lightning had neither the energy or the brain power to come up with a snarky response. Instead, she settled for shooting him the most dangerous look she could muster in her sleep-deprived state.

It was irritating when all she received was a chuckle. "You want to protect him right?"

"Protect who?" Lightning responded, suddenly distinctly aware of the rapid beating of her heart.

"You and I know very well who we mean," he said, his gaze wandering over to Hope.

Light snorted. "What's your point, Raines?"

"Even with those foul liquids, there's only so much sleep deprivation the human body can handle before it becomes...vulnerable. The more you rely on that, the more things like the immune system, motor skills, response time, cognitive functions in general will decline."

Lightning didn't dignify his words with a response. She could see it – the concern in his eyes. It bothered her. It bothered her because it seemed genuine – almost too genuine to be real.

Cid yawned. "Well, if I can't convince you, I hope you at least think about it, Farron. I'm heading off to bed." He gave her a casual wave before leaving the fire side to fetch his own bag.

As Cid settled down, his form huddled next to the fire, Lightning readied herself for the long night ahead. It wasn't something she was unused to. There was something else, though, that bothered her. Even long after Cid was asleep – long after the fire had died down to embers – Lightning couldn't shake off the image of that look on his face, the concern that had clouded his features. She wasn't sure what it was about it that bothered her. Whatever it was, though, she couldn't seem to get it off her mind.

* * *

**AN: I know the last couple of chapters have been...a little slow. I promise, though, that things are going to pick up with more action in the next chapter.**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: ****I apologize profusely for taking so long to get this chapter up. I have a bunch of excuses though. Really! You can blame a friend of mine, whom I roleplay Hope and Lightning with, for coming back after a two month absence and distracting me, and a week of pointless orientation classes at my new college, and, of course, my best friend writers block!**

**Anyway, the chapter is up now so I hope you guys enjoy it! c:**

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Chapter 9

Overnight, clouds had rolled in, replacing the tranquil blue skies with dark billowing masses of vapor. As was common with clouds, the condensation soon gave way under its own accumulated weight, subjecting the landscape below it to a heavy torrential rainfall. Unfortunately, the ones caught in this torrent were Cid, Lightning, and a rather miserable Hope.

Wrapping his coat around himself tightly, he shook his head, a pool of water that had gathered in his hair pouring down his face all at once. He shuddered violently, the rain drops dripping off of him as he gripped a handful of chocobo feathers that were equally saturated with water. The rain soaked through everything on him, reaching the very core of his body and sapping the heat out of him.

He turned his gaze forward to Lightning. If she was at all affected by the rain, she wasn't showing it. She sat up straight, ignoring the drops as they soaked through her clothes, the water accumulating in and around the folds of her fabric and dripping down as it gave way under the weight of additional rain drops. She looked just as soaked as him. He couldn't see Cid from his position, but he could only assume that the former general was in a similar state.

They had been following the same path for the better part of the day. At this point, the train tracks traveled along a ledge in the mountains. To one side of them was a towering cliff face. To the other, a precipice that ended in a long drop. Hope wasn't entirely sure how far down it went. Mist had settled down in the valley below, making it impossible for him to see the bottom. He could see trees a little farther down, and some had managed to take root on a few small ledges that dotted the cliff face. Other than that, vegetation consisted mostly of small patches of grass and moss.

At some points, the ledge had crumbled away completely, creating a gap that would have taken some creativity to get across by foot. Luckily, they were gaps that the chocobo could easily jump. Still, Hope couldn't help but feel nervous every time the chocobo's feet left solid ground. The fact that everything was slick from the rain didn't help matters.

Based on Cid's calculations, they would reach the highest point of the pass sometime during the evening. Everything after that would be downhill. All Hope wanted to do now, though, was get through the rest of the day. It was only mid-afternoon and he was ready to pull over, find a place to take shelter, and call it a day. Sitting down around a fire and drying off his clothing sounded very appealing.

Then, rather abruptly, Lightning pulled on the reigns and the chocobo came to a stop. Peeking around her, the sight that met him caused his breath to catch in his throat. Here, the cliff abruptly came to an end, split by a narrow valley running right through their path. It looked like a bridge had once spanned the length. Now, though, what remained was only several beams, a concrete path that abruptly cut off a couple of yards in, and a wiry frame that ended not far after the path. The bridge had been knocked out.

Hope studied that gap. It was far too large for even a chocobo to jump. The cliff below them was a sheer drop and there wasn't enough footing for a chocobo to climb down either.

"So...what now?" Hope asked, looking up at Lightning.

"We double back." The voice wasn't Lightnings but, rather, the monotonous yet commanding drawl that belonged to Cid. Turning around, Hope found Cid several feet behind them on his own chocobo, surveying the scene before them.

"Double back!?" Hope repeated, the alarm in his voice mirroring his own frustration. How far did they have to double back? Had they come all this way for nothing?

"If we travel back to the mining town, there's another path we can take. It goes up rather high into the mountains so we're going to have to be prepared for cold weather. Nonetheless, it will get us through."

"There has to be another way." This time, it was Lightning's voice and she didn't sound too pleased.

"If you can think of one, I'm all ears." Cid responded.

Lightning scowled, her eyes wandering to the the precipice. It was obvious she didn't have any better ideas. Without warning, she tugged on the reigns to turn the chocobo around. Hope had to grasp onto her waist to keep from getting thrown off.

They had reached a dead end and now it appeared they had no choice but to turn back.

* * *

The sun had disappeared behind the peaks, darkness slowly settling over the landscape. The rain had lightened somewhat – a small relief from the constant downpour. It still didn't help with the fact that he was freezing. His limbs were like blocks of ice, his hands and feet having lost most of their feeling long ago.

The three of them had decided to take shelter in a small tunnel. It was a place where they would get some relief from the rain. Cid had made a fire by the tunnel's entrance and all of them sat around the flickering flames.

Hope let out a small shiver, rubbing his hands together as he moved closer to the source of heat. They felt so good. He scooted up so that his feet were right by the coals. Even with getting as close to the fire as he dared to, he was still freezing and the frigid nip of the wind and rain wasn't helping matters.

"Hope?"

It was Lightning's voice. Hope straightened his back, sending another pool of water careening off the top of his head. "Y-yes, Light?" he responded, his teeth chattering as he spoke.

He heard a sigh. "You're going to catch a cold in those clothes."

"I-I'm f-f-fine," Hope said, trying to keep his teeth from chattering. He didn't want to show weakness – to be any more of a burden than he imagined he already was.

Lightning shook her head. "You're not fine. Take them off."

"Wh-what?!" Hope stuttered, her words catching him off guard.

"You heard me. Get undressed." Her tone didn't leave any room for argument.

Hope felt his face heating up, his body burning with a strange sensation. "Right now? In front of you?"

Lightning rolled her eyes. "For Etro's sake, Hope, I'm not asking for a striptease."

Hope was mortified. "I k-know! I just..." He didn't think his face could get any hotter than it felt now.

Lightning reached over and gave his coat a tug."We need to dry this off. If you stay in these clothes any longer, you're going to get sick." Her lips were drawn into a thin line. She looked like she was growing impatient with him.

Hope finally conceded, letting Lightning take his coat off. Soon, he was down to his boxers huddling around the fire for warmth, with his clothes set out nearby to dry. He could see too that Lightning had stripped down, leaving on only her skirt and her pale red turtle-neck jacket.

Lightning felt bad as she looked at a shivering Hope, huddled around the fire as he tried to warm up. He looked very miserable and part of her wished she hadn't had to make that request. All the same, it was better this way. Though he was more exposed now, in the long term, staying in those wet clothes would have been worse. It would take them a while to dry and the longer he stayed wet, the more likely he was to come down with hypothermia. The last thing she wanted was a sick boy on her hands – not when psychical strength was the thing they needed the most.

As her clothes slowly dried, Lightning found her eyelids drooping. Cold rain had served to keep her alert most of the day. Now that she was out of it, though, she found her body relaxing, her mind wandering as she drifted towards a state of sleep. 'Well...Hope is awake,' Lightning thought, glancing towards the boy. She let out a yawn. He could keep an eye on Cid...couldn't he?

Lightning shook her head, trying to snap to attention. No. She had to stay awake. She had to be the one to do this. It would be irresponsible to let Hope take her slack. She dug into her fanny pack, trying to fish out a foul liquid. For some reason, though, she couldn't find one. Strange. Was this Cid's doing? When would he have gotten the chance to do such a thing? She had been up all night last night. Nobody got near her pack. It was a pet peeve of hers: people thinking they could just reach in there and grab things as they pleased. It was probably why she had been so angry when Hope had tried to dig a potion out, even though he had been trying to save her life.

As she sat there, trying to figure out what had happened, she found herself slowly losing it. The last thought she had before she drifted off to sleep was that she should probably punch Cid as soon as she had the chance...

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A sudden cry snapped Lightning awake. She bolted up, glancing around hazily. It was obvious she hadn't been asleep for very long. Though darkness had begun to fall across the landscape, it was still relatively light out. Her first thought was Hope. Turning to the boy, she found him staring wide-eyed in fear at something behind them.

Whipping around, she saw what it was. Outside the tunnel was a King Behemoth. Or...at least it looked like one. It was a little shaggier than ones she had seen and it had a lighter blue-white coat. It sat atop the bloodied corpse of their chocobo. The other chocobo, Cid's, was flapping wildly about in the dirt. It appeared that the impact of the creature's attack had sent it sprawling to the ground, breaking a few bones in the process.

Using its teeth, the monster flung their belongings uselessly over the cliff before taking a bite out of the chocobo. With the flesh hanging from between its teeth as it chewed, feathers and all, it turned its gaze to them.

"A yeti," Cid hissed, his eyes narrowed slightly at the creature.

Without warning, the beast lunged at them.

Lightning barely jumped out of the way, a pair of claws raking past her face. As she landed, her feet skidded across the floor. Even in her sleep-muddled state, her first thought was Hope. She had to protect him.

"Hope!" she shouted, looking in his direction. What she saw surprised her. Hope was in the exact place he had been before. He hadn't, however, gotten hit as standing there, holding the beast's claw at arm's length, was Cid Raines.

His back was arched and his legs spread apart, his entire body quivered under the monster's weight. The creature let out a roar, whipping about slightly as it attempted to to tear its paw loose. Cid, though, held on, despite the fact that it looked like he was going to be overpowered any second. Behind him sat Hope, sprawled back on the floor as he looked at the beast in shock, his mouth agape.

Using what little time he had, Cid turned his head sideways, looking at Hope out of the corner of his eye as he said one word: "Run."

Lightning didn't wait to see if Hope would get out of the way. She dashed forward, grabbed him by the wrist, pulled him off the floor, and dragged him away from harm.

Using the last of his strength, Cid threw the claw off himself and jumped back. With nothing between it and the ground below, the creature smashed its paw right into the earth, sending bits of rock flying everywhere.

"Get behind me, Hope," Lightning said, letting go of the half-naked teenager's wrist.

Hope stood there, a look of uncertainty in his eyes as he stared at the creature.

Lightning didn't waste any time in putting herself between Hope and the creature. She didn't have time to be irritated by his hesitation. Right now, her main goal was safeguarding his life.

The creature wrenched its paw loose, letting out a snarl as it took a step towards them. Both Cid and Lighting jumped into action. Cid conjuring up a block of ice while Lightning sent a Thundaga spell in its direction. Thunder and ice pounded down on the creature, sending out a whirlwind of energy that nearly knocked Lightning off her feet. She had almost forgotten just how powerful these spells were.

When the dust cleared, however, the beast was still moving forward, seemingly unscathed by the attack. It stalked towards them, slowly closing the gap between it and its adversaries.

Lightning stepped back, bumping into Hope as she did. Turning around, anger in her eyes, she ordered Hope to get back before throwing another Thundaga in the creature's direction.

Cid winced. "It seems to be resistant to my Blizzaga and it doesn't look like your Thundaga is doing any better, Farron." He closed his eyes, his focus tightening as he used what was recognizable to Hope as Libra. When he opened his eyes, he had a scowl. "It seems to have some vulnerability to physical attacks but its real weakness is fire."

Both of them turned to look at Hope who visibly winced. "I left my manadrive in my pack," he admitted. As a matter of fact, when he thought about it, he had left his boomerang and gunblade in the pack as well and...well...the beast had thrown the pack over the edge. The realization made him go pale. He was going to be utterly useless in this battle.

Lightning muttered a curse. Then, abruptly, the Yeti charged right at them. "Get back, Hope!" Lightning yelled, unsheathing her blade and bringing it directly in front of her to guard against the attack. Bone clashed against metal as the claws met her sword. Lightning grunted, spreading her feet apart as she struggled to hold it back.

Cid jumped to her aid, aiming a kick at the beast's face. It reared back, swiping its other paw at Cid. Lightning used the opportunity to push the monster off of her. The beast lost its balance and fell to the side, legs thrashing violently.

Both Lightning and Cid dashed forward, Lightning attempting to cut the flesh with her blade while Cid continued to deliver kicks. Lightning's first blow landed on the upper part of the arm. The second one was a little further down. Almost methodically, she worked at slicing into its limbs as Cid worked on delivering blows to its stomach and face. She could see some blood soaking through its fur, staining the hard white with a crimson fluid. She knew, though, even with cuts, Yeti wouldn't go down easily.

Without warning, the beast smashed its front leg into her, sending her sprawling back against he floor. Cid just barely dodged a paw as the creature swiped towards him. As Cid jumped back to avoid injury, the creature pulled itself back onto its feet, grunting furiously as it flicked its head to and fro, glancing between its two assailants.

Lightning groaned, trying to get back on her feet. In her sleep-deprived state, she hadn't seen the attack coming in time. A wave of Cure suddenly washed over her. Looking up, she saw that it was Cid. She staggered back to her feet just as the beast decided it wanted to hurl her. This time, Lightning dodged the attack, leaping out of the way and sending a Thundaga in its direction. The beast missed its mark and instead smashed its head into the ceiling, sending rock tumbling down upon it. Once more, it was left momentarily vulnerable to attack.

This time, is was Cid who leapt in, delivering a rapid series of kicks to its back legs. The beast thrashed about, roaring in pain and rage. It attempted to kick Cid with its back legs, but the former captain simply moved out of the way, continuing to assault the beast with wave after wave of physical attacks.

Hope watched as the two of them slowly worked together to bring down the Yeti. He could tell it was sustaining some heavy damage. There was some relief on his part. Though it was a tough adversary, the way Cid and Lightning were handling things, a victory was very possible.

Or at least it was until the beast began to change.

Hope recognized it – the energy that bubbled around the creature as it began to shudder. Lightning too must have realized what was happening as she threw herself almost frantically at it, trying to finish it off before the inevitable happened. Alas, though its strength was low, it wasn't quite low enough.

Abruptly, a wave of energy exploded from the monster as it reared onto its hind legs, knocking both Cid and Lightning off their feet. Hope brought his hand to his face, trying to shield his eyes from the onslaught of raw power radiating off the monster. When all was done, it stood before them on two legs, a circular saw in hand as it let out an animalistic roar.

Under normal circumstances, it was an enemy they could have taken on. With only one of them able to use magic, however, it was a whole different story.

In a split second, the beast flicked the saw at Lightning, sending a powerful fire-based attack in her direction. "LIGHT!" Hope yelled as it hit her head on, a nasty crack sounding through the tunnel as her body smashed, like a rag doll, onto the rock. Hope was by her side in an instant. Leaning down, he took her by the arm. "Light! Are you okay?" he asked. He could see a burn mark where the flesh had been hit.

Lightning immediately knocked his arm away. "What are you doing, Hope?" she hissed. "Get out of here! Stay out of the way! If you can't fight, then you shouldn't be here." She shoved him off of her. She could see a mixture of shock and pain in his eyes as she did so. While she realized her words might have come across as harsh, she was doing this for his own safety. Besides, she didn't have time to worry about his feelings when he was being so foolish.

Cid gritted his teeth, switching to the medic paradigm and sending a Cura spell in Lightning's direction. Before he could fully heal her, however, the beast sent the same attack at him. All Cid could do was switch to the sentinel paradigm, raise his arms in defense, and brace himself. He staggered back under the attack's pressure, but stood his ground. Nonetheless, it was obvious he had taken damage.

Her body shaking, Lightning slammed her gunblade into the ground and used it as leverage as she brought herself back to her feet. She wasn't going to give up now. "I said go!" she snarled at Hope.

"I...I can't just leave you here!"

"Damn it, Hope! I'm not going to let you die!"

"Well I'm not going to let you die either!" Hope gave her a defiant look, a mixture of fear and worry in his teal-green eyes.

Lightning hesitated, her eyes holding concern. Something else, though, was mixed with it – something Hope couldn't quite put his finger on. He suddenly found himself distinctly aware of the beating of his heart, a blush creeping onto his face as his gaze inadvertently wandered to her lips. They looked parched, cracked slightly around the edges. Nonetheless, they were soft and rounded and something about them fascinated him. He gulped, unsure exactly what it was or why he was even looking at her lips in the first place.

As he brought his eyes back to hers, he found his face heating up even further. She was staring at him. Now, though, he could see a distinct confusion in her features. He didn't understand it and she didn't seem to understand it either and, for a split second, there was a new feeling: a strange, almost animalistic yearning.

Before he could decipher this feeling – before he could figure out what it was and consider what it meant – there was a shout. Lightning cursed. For the several seconds they had spent arguing, Cid had been diligently fighting and, now, he was kneeling there, his sleeve ripped and his arm a bloody mess. He looked like he was using Cura to heal the wound. The reason he had shouted, though, was because the beast had turned to them.

Lightning shoved Hope out of the way and threw herself at the monster. She swerved out of the way as it attempted to slash her with its spinning saw, slicing out at it herself and leaving a cut of her own. In response, the beast threw a Blizzaga in her direction. The ice shards shattered, visibly damaging her but not stopping her as she turned around to land another blow on the creature. Cid, too, got up and charged at the beast, his arm still damaged.

Both of them delivered blow after blow. The attacks, though, seemed to do little. The beast stood there, barely flinching as it was assaulted with a barrage of physical and elemental attacks. Then, with lightning speed, it moved forward, attempted to slice through the two of them with its saw. Both Cid and Lightning jumped back, but it still caught them. Hope couldn't help but flinch as Lightning held her upper arm. The clothing there was torn, and he could see blood soaking through.

The beast didn't stop at that. It continued towards them, swiping its giant saw. A wave of Cure washed over the soldier and she was back on her feet, dodging each attack while trying to get in a strike of her own.

The beast was a powerhouse. Even with Lightning and Cid's combined skills, it seemed to be doing more damage to them than they were doing to it. Cid, of course, continued to throw curative spells at both himself and Lightning. Still, the injuries they were sustaining were becoming more and more obvious. The monster was simply too much. At this rate, they wouldn't be able to keep up.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eyes, Hope caught a glint of something metallic over by the chocobos. 'Could it be?' Hope thought, his eyes going wide.

There was a shout – it was from Cid. "Over here!" he called to the beast, gesturing to himself. It was a move Lightning recognized as taunt. It seemed Cid had switched over to the sentinel paradigm. Lightning gritted her teeth. Even she could see they were losing. They needed a plan and they needed one fast. Cid had the right idea. This would give them more time to think – more time to figure out how to defeat this powerhouse of a monster.

As the beast lunged at Cid, Lightning continued her own assault. She could see she was doing little damage but she was hoping it would get her to think – think of something. Think of anything. In her state of sleep-deprivation, however, she couldn't think. It was like there was a big blank spot in the problem-solving part of her brain and no matter how much she willed it to work, willed it to function, it wouldn't budge.

Lightning wasn't the only one who could see they were slowly losing. Cid let out a grunt as the beast smashed the blade right into him with another sunder. He winced at the pain that shot through his body, but didn't move an inch. He turned to look at Lightning. "Get out of here," he grunted.

A mixture of surprise and confusion showed on the soldiers face. Cid gasped in pain as the beast landed another blow. "I'll hold him off. You and Esthiem get out of here."

Lightning was taken aback. She hesitated for a moment. Then, she shook her head. "No!" she snapped, her eyes narrowed. It wasn't that she was particularly concerned for his safety. It was more a matter of pride – pride and the fact that, no matter what happened, she had to protect Hope. They could flee now – perhaps put some distance between themselves and the monster with Cid's noble sacrifice – but what then? They weren't going to make it to Oerba without Cid. If he died here, they might as well be dead as well. Besides, though she wasn't about to acknowledge it, a part of her really did have mixed feelings about Cid putting his own life on the line to save them.

Cid must have seen it in her eyes for something in his own eyes softened as he looked at her. "Farron-" Cid started but a sudden blow sent him sprawling to his knees. He groaned, clutching his chest for a moment before collapsing.

"Cid!" Lightning hissed between gritted teeth. She had waited too long – had let Cid take the brunt of the damage. Now he was down.

Lightning didn't have time to react as the beast turned on her. With the swipe of its blade, Lightning felt a sharp burning pain. She let out a groan, clutching her stomach. She could feel a dampness there, a mixture of sweat and blood.

She backed away as the beast descended on her. She knew she was in bad shape. Her clothes were ripped all over, the black lines of her brand peeking out from beneath the fabric, showing the bare skin of her upper breast. The sting of cuts plagued her entire body. She was panting heavily, her vision swimming and her head pounding with a searing pain.

She cast her eyes upon the monster, waiting for it to make a move. There was nowhere left to run. Cid was down and Hope was nowhere to be seen. If she was going down here, though, she was going to do it fighting until she took her very last breath. She held her blade up to the beast, ready to fend off its blows.

Before anything could happen, an intense wave of heat hit her. A blazing inferno of fire erupted from the monster. It let out a cry of pain and turned about to the source of the attack. Lightning heard a cry that was was unmistakably her name. As she turned to the source, her eyes landed on Hope. He was standing there, his hair whipping about his face as a strange energy radiated off of him. Lightning saw what she recognized as a manadrive on his wrist. His eyes narrowed, he glared at the beast, seemingly challenging it to come and get him.

The beast let out a huff before charging. "Idiot," Lightning muttered. What was he thinking? Still, in this moment, he wasn't at all the cowardly boy on that lake bottom, running away and jumping in fright at everything that happened. There was a new look in his eyes, a look of determination and something else. Perhaps a desperate urge to protect the one he cared about. Lightning didn't have time to give it any further thought. She was up on her feet, running towards the monster with what little energy she had left. As well meaning as his actions were, they were foolish.

Hope felt his heart hammering in his chest as the monster stalked towards him. It easily swung the spinning saw in his direction. Hope jumped back, throwing another fire spell. This time, though, the fire intermingled with a Thundaga and Hope was both shocked and pleased to see Lightning standing on the other side of the monster.

"Light. I...I think I have a plan!" Hope shouted.

Lightning grunted. "Don't push yourself, Hope," she ordered.

"No. I mean we can defeat this monster but...we need Cid."

Lightning's gaze shot over to the man. He was still crumpled on the floor. She looked back to Hope. "He's not going to be much help to us now."

"Help him, Light." Hope couldn't believe he was saying this, but they needed Cid. They needed him here. Without him, they were done for.

Lightning hesitated. She hated to leave Hope to face this monster on his own. But he was right. They needed Cid or both of them were going down. "Hold on, Hope," she murmured, giving him one last look before turning to find the man.

She quickly found him lying on his stomach, his eyelids fluttering as he rested his head against the floor. He appeared to be drifting in and out of consciousness. "Farron," he said as soon as he saw Light.

"Don't waste your breath" Lightning commanded. She didn't hesitate for a second. Reaching into her pouch, she brought out a Phoenix down. "Sit up," she ordered roughly, bringing him up against the cave wall so that his head was raised. She unscrewed the cap and pressed it to his lips before tipping it back. Cid couldn't help but sputter as the liquid rushed down his throat. For a second, Lightning was afraid he was going to choke. In the end, though, he swallowed it all without complaining or coughing it back up. At least, in that regard, he was a good sport. The medicinal drink appeared to take affect quickly for Cid let out a small laugh. "Thank you, Farron," he said, attempting to bring himself back to his feet.

"Save it for later," Lightning ordered, helping him up. Cid was shaky. Lightning, though, didn't have time to worry about it as a cry sounded out.

Once again, Hope had been hit and this time he was on the ground, kneeling over and holding what looked to be a wound on his leg. Before Lightning could even respond, a Cure spell washed over him.

"Let's hear your plan," Cid said, his eyes on Hope.

"I don't think we can defeat this thing...but if we can send it tumbling over the edge..." Hope said, sounding uncertain as he trailed off.

"Sounds good to me," Cid responded, a smirk on his face. "But first we have to get it out of this tunnel!"

With that, Cid delivered a punch to the beast's gut before jumping back and signaling it over with his fingers. It was taunt again. Cid took off down the tunnel and the beast followed him. Hope and Lightning followed suit.

When they emerged outside, it was back on a narrow ledge. He could see part of the train tracks hanging off. It was barely wide enough for a human. That, however, didn't stop the Yeti. Digging its clawed hands and feet into the solid rock, it climbed out, swiping at Cid with its weapon. Cid stumbled back, twisting and ducking as he tried to avoid its reach.

Lightning immediately began to throw Thundagas at the creature. Hope did the same with his Firagas. While the Firagas were beginning to do some visible damage, the beast was still filled with energy. Hope gritted his teeth, staring at the claws as they dug into the bedrock. He hadn't thought of this – that the monster would dig its claws into stone. It would be impossible to drive it off the cliff this way. He had to think of some way to pry those claws loose.

Then, as his eyes wandering farther up the side of the cliff, he saw it: the large boulder perched precariously on several jutting ledges. It was just above where the Yeti was. It was the perfect chance!

Without a second thought, Hope readjusted his aim, shooting his spell at the boulder. A loud screech sounded through the air as the bounder creaked forward. Several stones around the boulder fell loose. From a distance, they had looked small, but at they landed on the Yeti, smashing into the creature and causing it to let out a roar of confusion, Hope realized they were large stones. Very large stones. It was only than the Hope realized his mistake. The entire ledge was covered in large stones and there were a myriad of equally large stones on the ledges beneath it. The problem with that was that the top ledge was slowly crumbling away. Hope didn't have time to think as the ground began to shake underneath them. He just grabbed Lightnings hand and said one word: "Run!"

The rumbling underneath their feet soon turned into a roar. They had to get back to the tunnel. They might have a chance of surviving if they did. He didn't have time to think about Cid or his fate. He and Lightning had to get to safety.

Lightning must have realized what was happening for she cursed. The first stone, about the size of a basketball, fell in front of Hope with a thud. Hope stumbled back in surprise for a moment before a push from Lightning sent him leaping forward. The next stone was larger, much larger, and, before he knew it, the ground around them was being pummeled with boulders. Hope let out a cry of pain as a fist-sized rock hit him on the shoulder and another larger one fell on his back. An even larger boulder fell in his path but at this point, even he knew they were not going to make it. He could see the tunnel just 10 or 15 feet ahead but everything was already coming down on them.

The last thought he had, before a crack to the back of the head knocked him to the ground unconscious, was of Lightning.

* * *

**AN: Unfortunately, since i'm going to be back in school on Tuesday, I will be releasing chapters a little more slowly from now on. Nonetheless, though I might be going slowly, I have every intention of finishing this.**


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm so sorry for taking so long to get this up. School has been a huge burden. It feels like there aren't enough days in the week. On top of that, this chapter gave me some major writers block. When my friend talked me into doing nanowrimo, I nearly abandoned this for the rest of the month. I think I finally got something I like though, and something hopefully the rest of you will like.**

**This chapter hasn't been beta'd yet but, considering how long I've made you guys wait, I figure I would submit it first and have it beta'd later. Thanks goes to all you readers and reviewers for this chapter and to Revan Farron who sent me an encouraging message that got me back into writing this after I didn't think I would be able to motivate myself to do so until I was finished for the quarter. This chapter is also a bit longer than my usual chapters, so hopefully it will hold you all through until I get done with school. Might even have a chance to get caught up on nano! After I get caught up on my school work of course... OTL**

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Chapter 10

Lightning watched with trepidation as the falling rocks knocked the young boy unconscious in front of her. "Hope!" she shouted in alarm, kneeling over the boy and trying to clear the debris off him. It was clear he wasn't going to answer. She gritted her teeth, trying to gather him up. She was ready to carry him back if she had too.

Several stones fell on her, knocking into her hard and with an intensity that was going to hurt the next day. She lifted Hope, coughing in the dust that chocked the air. She tried to remain on her feet but the sudden cascade of rocks coming down on them was too much. A smack on the head from a particularly large rock sent her tumbled to the ground in a daze. She groaned, trying, in the chaos, to figure out how they were going to make it out of this. It was quickly becoming obvious that it was too late to run. At this rate, they wouldn't make it back to the tunnel even if she tried. All she found herself able to do was lean over, holding her body protectively over Hope's in the face of the onslaught of falling stone that was almost sure to kill them both.

As she braced herself for death, however, something even more startling happened. Lightning felt a swish of air stirred up by movements of something nearby. She turned around, half expecting the Yeti, even in death, to be coming after them. The sight that met her instead completely caught her off guard. Through the rocks, a large canine loomed before her. It wasn't just any canine. This creature was an enormous mechanical beast with three heads. It was black with a glowing ghostly green color around and inside its joints. It's six eyes were an equally eerie green.

It proceeded to crouch over them, it's large steel-platted body protecting them from the impact of the stones. Lightning stared up in a daze, unable to react until she felt a hand on her arm. It was Cid. "Let's go," he shouted. Lightning didn't have to be asked twice. She gathered up Hope and joined Cid in a mad dash for the tunnel, the beast towering over the two of them as it knocked away rocks with its nose and paws.

As soon as she was inside, she fell to her knees, letting Hope rest against her. She looked down at him, brushing some of the hair out of his dirt-streaked face. Though she was concerned about the boy, something else was bugging her. She turned to Cid, giving him a questioning look. The beast was looming behind him. It wasn't hard for Lightning to guess that this was an eidolon. But...how Cid had an eidolon, and why he hadn't summoned it earlier, was bugging her. She glared at him, waiting for an explanation.

Cid must have sensed what she wanted for he opened his mouth, ready to speak, but before any words could come out the piercing grind of metal on metal on metal rang through the air. Lightning's eyes shot to the source. Crouching down on the tunnel floor, the eidolon began to go through a transformation. The two heads on the side unfolded, changing into two thick intricately designed shoulder pauldrons. The tail and ears disappeared and a set of thick armor zigzagged across its body as it took on a bipedal stance. When it was done, what was standing there was a mechanical creature with a thick dog-like build, yet an eerily human face.

It waved its arm and a of dark energy swirled around Cid, afflicting him with what Lightning recognized as doom. Then, it motioned to them, waving towards itself as it challenged them to attack. Lightning knew was was happening – knew what was going on – but found herself uncharacteristically hesitating. She was still holding onto Hope and he was in no condition to fight.

Cid on the other hand, didn't hesitate. He dashed forward, swinging a fist at the summon. It held up its fists and blocked the move. Cid pushed himself back, his gaze shooting to Lightning. "This is an eidolon trial, is it not?" he asked.

Lightning didn't answer. She got to her feet, drawing her gunblade even as she held Hope against her. Every muscle in her body ached but she knew it wasn't over – not until Cid proved himself to this guardian.

The slightest smirk appeared on his face. "You've fought one of these beings before, have you not, Miss Farron? What kind of strategy would you suggest?"

"Use everything you've got," was Lightning's response, her eyes trained on the eidolon. She remembered her own eidolon battle very well, as well as Hope and Fang's. The goal was to figure out the eidolon's strategy and then adjust your own strategy to match. If they were offensive, you focused on defense, while if they were defensive, you focused on offense. Looking at this one, Lightning was guessing it was defensive. It was heavily built like Hope's Alexander and covered in thick armor.

Cid nodded and, together, the two of them sprang into action. Cid launched himself towards the beast while Lightning duck behind a large chunk of rock that had fallen from the ceiling and deposited Hope on the floor. She hated to leave Hope in such an exposed place but she didn't have much of a choice. Her hands briefly lingering on his back. She was surprised by the surge of emotions that suddenly ran through her; Guilt, compassion, affection, tenderness – emotions that all mixed into a blur. Her head spun. She couldn't think about this right now. She had to act. Not just for herself but for him – for all of them.

With a new surge of determination, Lightning got up and threw herself into the fray. The first strike landed against the metal armor with a clang. Her gunblade bounced harmlessly off, barely leaving more than a scratch. The former soldier didn't seem perturbed by this failure. Instead, she jumped up, grabbing onto the eidolon's shoulders with one hand. A pain shot through her still healing hand. She pushed it away. Using the shoulder as leverage to pull herself up, she aimed her gunblade at the summon's face.

Without warning, a fist shot forward, catching her full on in the stomach. Lightning was sent sprawling back. With the reflexes of a skillfully trained soldier, she twisted her body so that she landed on her feet, throwing herself back into the battle without pause.

The eidolon turned to Cid. With an amazing amount of flexibility the man aimed a kick upward, smashing his foot into the eidolon's chest. The eidolon caught him by his foot. Cid tried to wrench his foot loose but before the eidolon could act, Lightning dug her gunblade into its shoulder joint. With the brief amount of time this move bought him, Cid swung his second foot up, smashing it against the eidolon's chest. The eidolon let go, staggering back slightly before coming to a halt.

The two of them jumped back, both panting slightly. They gave each other a look, seemingly confused as why the eidolon had halted. Their curiosity was fulfilled when the eidolon's shoulder pauldrons opened up and two machine gun barrels came forth, each looking like a dog head with an open mouth.

"Shit," was all Lightning got out before they began to fire. Several bullets tore through body but something inside of her kept her moving forward. Reaching the summon's leg, she swung her blade, aiming for the joints where the armor met. She sliced in, the gunblade visibly cutting into the vulnerable area. A wave of cure washed over her. Apparently Cid had switched to the medic paradigm. Lightning didn't have time to give it any thought. Her one focus was on her foe.

She got behind the summon, switching between gun and blade form as she worked at damaging it. It soon became obvious what the eidolon's strategy was. It would stand there, letting Cid and her land some hits. Then it would charge at them, using it's body as a battering ram and finishing off with those machine guns.

"Raines, when you see those guns coming out, switch to the sentential paradigm," Lightning instructed. "Otherwise, attacks and heal when necessary."

Cid followed her instructions but, even as they worked together, Lightning was distinctly aware that his time was running out. If they didn't finish things off soon...well...Lightning didn't want to think about what would happen. To make things even more difficult, her own strength was slowly waning. With each and every step, she found herself having a harder and harder time pushing on.

As several new bullets hit her, leaving the flesh of her left arm mangled and her clothing even more torn and blood-soaked than before, she realized Cid was spending too much time healing her. Even with taunt, the attacks seemed to be hitting them both equally.

They needed a different strategy and they needed it fast.

Lightning glanced around the tunnel. Rocks and boulders surrounded her. Again, she found her mind muddled as she tried to think of something – anything to give her and Cid an advantage. She saw the eidolon coming at her. She twisted away from its fist, which smashed into the floor, sending rocks of all sizes scattering in every direction. Lightning kept an eye on the summon, trying to calculate its next move. She was slightly taken aback when there was a sudden halt in its movement. It was for less than a second but with her training it was enough to catch her attention. Her eyes shot to the source of the sudden jerk and she saw it – saw the small pebble wedged in the joint that connected its upper and lower arm.

Something in her mind clicked. Picking a rock off the floor about the size of her fist, she charged forward, ducking down as she shoved the rock directly into the joint connecting the thigh with the calf. There was a low grinding sound as the movement in that leg came to a sudden halt, causing the large mechanical summon to falter.

Lightning wasted no time in launching her next attack. She dug her blade into a slit in the armor where the waist met the chest. Placing both hands on the hilt of the blade, she sent a thundaga from her manadrive through the length of the weapon and into the eidolon's interior before slicing down the length of the slit. The eidolon seemed momentarily paralyzed by the attack.

Cid, seeing what she had done, followed suit. Picking up a rock, he shoved it into the other joint, using a blizzaga to freeze it into place and further interrupt the eidolon's movements.

The summon strained to move. A few seconds of pressure and the ice shattered completely. Still, the stones couldn't be broken as easily and the struggle it was having with its movement significantly slowed it down. It brought out its guns and tried to fire on them but this time both Lightning and Cid were ready. They moved out of the range of the bullets. Without free movement in its legs, the eidolon simply couldn't keep up.

None-the-less, even with the upper hand, Cid could feel that his time was nearly up. '_Come on! Move!_' he thought to himself, gritting his teeth. He delivered another series of kicks, urging his body to go faster – to use more of his strength. He was already straining it to the limit but every second he wasted brought him closer and closer to death.

Lightning sliced below the shoulder plate, putting everything she had into her upper arms. As she leapt back, a bullet hit her in the shoulder. Cid noticed this out of the corner of his eyes but knew there was no time left to switch to the medic paradigm and heal her. He could feel he only had seconds. He leapt up, combining his strength and magic to deliver a blow that he could only pray was enough to send the eidolon over the edge. The thought that he wasn't going to make it flashed through his head. He didn't have time to entertain it. He braced himself, ready to face the outcome, whatever it was.

Suddenly, the eidolon came to a halt. A bright white light surrounded the creature as it began to go through a familiar transformation. The thick armor disappeared, the shoulder pauldrons transforming back into the other two heads and the third face began to change. By the time it was done, the gestalt had changed back into the 3-headed canine. All three heads gazed at Cid, seeming to usher him. The man grabbed onto the canine and hauled himself up onto its back.

Lightning let out the breath she had been holding. They had done it.

Cid jumped off the creature and it dispersed, his brand glowing momentarily before it faded.

Lightning stood there, her hands on her knees as her breath came out in soft pants. She looked to Cid, who looked equally battered. There was an exhaustion to his expression as his eyes met hers. For a moment, there was a silence. Then, Cid approached her. "You're hurt, Farron," he said, looking down at her shoulder.

"Yeah..." Lightning looked at the location where the bullet had gone through her. She winced. It had soaked the area in blood.

"Here," Cid said. He put his hand to the spot. Lightning gasped, a pain shooting through her arm as he touched it. A momentary green glow surrounded the area and the wound was gone.

Lightning looked up to Cid, her breath heavy and face streaked with sweat and dirt. Rather abruptly, she grabbed him by he hem of his shirt. "What the hell just happened?" she hissed.

Cid looked slightly taken aback. "Excuse me?"

"Don't play innocent," Lightning growled. "Why did you bring us here? You said you knew what we would be up against. If so, why weren't we prepared to face that...that monster!? Was this an ambush? Are you trying to kill us?"

Cid looked back at her blankly. "If you could calm down, Miss Farron, we can talk about this reasonably."

Lightning didn't hold back. She hit him square across the jaw. Cid stood there, looking slightly dazed at the abrupt and violent move. He reached to his jaw and rubbed it. A small drop of blood trickled down his lip. "No," he responded, bringing his eyes up to hers, a sudden seriousness to them. "I am not trying to take either of your lives, though I am starting to suspect that somebody else is."

A momentary confusion flashed across her features but was quickly replaced with disbelief. "And what makes you think that?" she asked, shoving him against the wall of the tunnel in one swift motion. Despite their size difference, she was clearly in control of the situation – though the fact that large man was remaining passive to the onslaught of her aggression probably helped. Cid kept the same unreadable expression on his face. "Well, for one, it would be quite foolish of me to get caught up in the battle if I were trying to kill you. For another,Yeti rarely ascend to such a low elevation."

Lightning raised her eyebrows. "That is why you think somebody, other than you, is trying to kill us?"

"Well that and the fact that Yeti don't live in this mountain range."

That seemed to catch Lightning's attention. "So, if you think somebody is trying to kill us," she said, suddenly looking quite exhausted as she let go of the mans collar, "Then who is it?"

Cid looked oddly sheepish. "It's only a theory."

Lightning narrowed her eyes. She suspected there was something Cid wasn't telling her. Though it wasn't entirely improbable that someone was trying to kill them, to draw such a conclusion from evidence that wasn't particularly incriminating was suspicious. None-the-less, she didn't press it. At the moment, she was too exhausted and she still had Hope to worry about.

Picking up her gunblade, she returned to the boy. He was still unconscious, laying back against the rock where she had left him. Lightning checked his pulse and was relieved to find it was still there. Methodically, she began to brush her hands over his exposed flesh, checking for bumps and bruises. She soon found it: a wet spot on the back of his head where the flesh had been torn open upon the impact of a blunt object – almost certainly a stone from the rock slide. Propping him up against the stone wall, took some gauze out of her bag and began to bandage him up.

By the time she was finished, she was on the verge of collapse. She knew she had more than a few wounds that cure hadn't taken care of entirely. None-the-less, now that she had taken care of Hope, she found she didn't have the energy or even particularly care about addressing her own injuries. Gently bringing Hope down so that he was was resting against the ground, she barely even bothered to note that he was still there as she collapsed onto the floor next to him, one arm still draped across his chest. Even with the ache that thrummed through her entire body, she was asleep within minutes.

* * *

Hope awoke with a dull throbbing pain in his head. The first thing he noticed was just how parched his throat felt. There was also something warm laying across his chest and, as he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see it was an arm – Lightning's arm.

"Light?" he croaked, turning over and finding her face just mere inches from his. A blush creeped onto his cheeks. Then he noticed her condition. She looked so beaten up. His bashfulness quickly turned to worry. "Light! Are you okay?" he said, looking frantic as he got to his knees and grabbed her by the shoulders. He had to know that she was okay.

A sudden voice from behind stopped him. "I would leave her be, Estheim. This is the first she's slept in a while."

Hope looked up to find Cid sitting around a small fire just a few yards off. He looked bruised too but significantly less so. Hope narrowed his eyes. He suddenly found his anger and frustration being directed at the man. "What do you know about Lightning?" he spat.

As usual, Cid wasn't at all taken aback by his aggression. "I know that she hasn't been sleeping well since we've met."

It was Hope who was taken aback. His eyes widened. Sure Lightning didn't sleep much but he hadn't really given it much thought. For some reason, he felt ashamed. Was he really so caught up in his own problems that he hadn't considered how Lightning was holding up?

"Here." Hope was surprised to find Cid holding a water bottle out to him. Remembering just how parched he was, he begrudgingly accepted it, screwing off the cap before tilting it back and letting the liquid sooth his sore throat.

"Thanks," he muttered, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he handed the water bottle back, refusing to look at the man. Cid nodded in acknowledgment and took it back.

A silence fell over the two of them, Hope staying by Lightning's side while Cid sat around the fire, his eyes aglow with the reflection of the flames. Hope's hand absentmindedly wandered to Lightning's, his gaze on her face. Despite her condition, she looked so peaceful, so serene. Not even the dirt and bruises could detract from the subtle beauty of her features.

"Light," he whispered, a tender expression on his face. He brushed his thumb across her hand. He hated to see her like this. He wanted her to be okay. He didn't want her to be bruised and dirty and sleeping so badly she obviously hadn't had time to tend to herself.

Lightning didn't respond. She was out cold; apparently not even his touch could rouse her. Perhaps that was for the best. Lightning seemed to tolerate physical contact to a certain extent, but she also seemed a bit uncomfortable with it. He imagined Lightning probably wouldn't take too well to waking up with him touching her in any manner.

Where he couldn't rouse Lightning, however, he did seem to rouse the attention of Cid. As Hope looked up, he found the man staring curiously at him. For a moment, there was complete silence as Cid looked at Hope, his expression remaining passive and unreadable, while the teenager looked back at him with his obvious suspicion and mistrust for the man. What happened next was something Hope never could have predicted.

"You love her, don't you?"

It was a straight forward question; there was no innuendo tied to it, no judgment. Yet Hope's heart nearly came to a stop. "Y-you mean Lightning?" he croaked, his eyes going wide. Cid's gaze remained fixed on the boy, his expression unchanging, but Hope knew he didn't have to elaborate. Something subtle, clear yet undetectable about his expression, told him that Lightning was exactly who he meant. Then again, it wasn't hard to deduce, from their current circumstance, that Lightning was the ONLY person he could possibly mean.

Hopes jaw hung slightly agape, his own puzzled yet shocked expression indicative of indecision on his part. He wasn't sure what to say. The question repeated itself in his head. Did he love Lightning? It wasn't something he had really considered. Perhaps because, when he thought about it now, the idea of being in a relationship with Lightning seemed totally out of the question. Even without the impression that she wasn't interested in dating, he was far younger than her. Out of all people she would possibly be looking for a partner in, she surely wouldn't give a boy like him a second glance.

Still, the question wasn't how Lightning felt about him; it was how he felt about her. As he thought about her – about her voice, the softness of her face when she smiled at him, the way he felt whenever she touched him – he found his face heating up, his pulse rate rocketing upward as a sudden primal drive took over his body. He couldn't deny it...the way he felt when he was around her. Was this love? Or was it something even more – something that wasn't so innocent? He looked at Cid, a feeling of panic rising in his chest. He couldn't feel this way about Lightning. Even he knew something about it wasn't right. She was a fully grown woman, and he still just a teenage boy. To consummate that sort of relationship with her would be breaking an unspoken taboo.

Cid's expression suddenly softened. Hope was surprised. He had never seen the man look so...gentle. "I think Miss Farron is quite fond of you too."

"R-really?" Hope stuttered, unable to hide the hopeful eagerness in his expression.

"Yes. But I don't think it will be easy to convince her to reciprocate her feelings," he mused.

Hope couldn't help the way his expression fell. Still, something about it piqued his curiosity. "You...you're not bothered by it?"

Cid shrugged. "It's really none of my business," he said.

Again, the part of him that was suspicious of this man clicked into gear. "Then why did you ask?"

The smallest smile graced his lips. "I wasn't really expecting an answer."

Hope suddenly felt stupid. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he meant that it had been put forth as a rhetorical question. Yet, somehow, that fact had slipped by him completely. Hope turned his gaze away from the man. He wasn't sure what he could possibly say now that would be completely and totally awkward. In the end, though, it didn't seem to matter. Cid didn't appear to want to pursue the topic any further.

Part of Hope was thankful. Another part, however, felt a nagging desire to explore the topic himself. That he had feelings for Lightning was obvious enough. But what kind of feelings? What did they mean? It was both terrifying and exciting to think about. Part of him wanted to resign himself to it while another part wanted to push it out of his mind – to try not to think about it anymore than he already had to.

Lightning, after all, was still Lightning. Why add anything that could compromise their already odd relationship to the mix?

* * *

"Well have to just take what we need," Cid said. He was standing over the two dead chocobos. They had been on the opposite side of the tunnel when the land slide had happened. Still, one had instantly been killed by the behemoth and, according to Cid, he had had to put the second one out of its misery soon after. One pack had been thrown over the cliff so that just left one pack with Cid's stuff. It would be a burden, even between the three of them, to carry what was left in the remaining pack.

Lightning let out a grunt of some sort but otherwise didn't acknowledge him. She paced back and forth. She had been restless since awakening. Hope had a feeling that she was very frustrated about their situation, something which made him feel even more guilty about that rock slide. This was partly his fault.

He wondered about it. He hadn't gotten the entire story as to how exactly they had survived. The last thing he remembered was the rocks coming down on them. He wanted to ask Lightning but, again, she didn't exactly seem to be...in the greatest of moods. Cid hadn't seemed inclined to give him the details either. Then again, he hadn't asked the man.

Hope turned to Cid. He was going through his pack. What he suddenly brought out as Hope watched piqued the boy's curiosity. It was like leg braces, bands of metal crossing over two vertical rods in the shape of a leg. Each band seemed to be connected to the one below it with a hinge, something to allow for the obvious flexibility a leg would need. What really caught his attention though were the blades near the shin, sticking out of one side of each boot like some sort of bizarre talon, as well as several shorter blades running up the ankle.

Cid must have noticed his questioning look as he gave the teenaged a nod. "Gaffs," he responded. "Didn't want to wear them before, not while riding a chocobo, but since they're gone..." He reached down, rubbing his finger along the edge of the blade. "...these will be useful weapons," he finished.

Hope had never heard of gaffs, but they seemed to fit the man and his combat style.

Hope's thought wandered to his boomerang, a heavy feeling entering his chest. It had been in the pack that had been thrown off the cliff and, for some reason, it pained him to think that he had lost it. Sure, his lack in commando training had made it nearly useless to him, but it had still been his; an emblem of his former life. In a strange sort of way, it felt like he had lost a part of him. Not only that, but he had also lost his gunblade. There would be no more training for him. He doubted Lightning would even want to train him after making such a mistake.

As Hope's mind wandered, he wondered what kind of weapon he would use now. Perhaps he would find another gunblade? Maybe, if they ever got back their abilities, he could expand his commando Crystarium. Then, for some reason, he began to wonder if it would impress Lightning. She had been impressed with how much more quickly he had gotten stronger before.

"Hope!"

Hope turned to Lightning, who had barked his name. He cringed slightly. "Yeah, Light?" he responded, hoping that she didn't notice just how red his cheeks probably were right now. He still obviously had the conversation with Cid from earlier on his mind.

"How much weight do you think you can carry?" Hope was surprised at just how less harsh the question had been than before. His heart did a little flip, a warm pleasant sensation rising in the pit of his stomach. He tried to gulp it down but he found he was suddenly having a hard time breathing.

"Hope?"

She sounded impatient. "30 pounds!" Hope squeaked, realizing Lightning was waiting for an answer.

"30 pounds?" Lightning looked skeptical.

"Chocobos aren't the only ones who eat their greens," Hope joked nervously, giving her a half hearted smile as he patted his chest, but Lightning just kept staring at him, the joke going over her head completely. The left corner of her lips twitched. Hope's own bottom lip quivered.

"Here we go."

It was Cid's voice and as Hope turned to him, he saw that he was holding an article of clothing in his hands. It looked to be a fur coat – the type of coat one used to wear on those brisk winter evenings when the temperature in Palumpolum dropped into the low 40's, only larger and thicker. "I think this will fit you, Farron," he said.

"And why the hell would I wear that?" Lightning asked.

"For crossing the pass. Another couple thousand feet up and we hit snow." He wrung out another jacket. "This one should do for Estheim," he murmured.

"Snow?" Lightning said, not looking at all pleased. For some reason, the first thing that popped into Hope's mind with her tone was the person, not the flakes of crystallized water. She sounded so much like she sounded when she was referring to him, it was almost comical.

"How high are you taking us?" Lightning asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

"High enough," Cid responded, his eyes still on the coat. "We won't be able to cross the mountains without hitting it." Cid looked up, holding the jacket out to Lightning. Lightning glared at him before snatching it out of his hand.

Hope tried his on. It was a little large for him but he didn't mind. It felt fluffy and warm and some of the brisk coolness from the morning air was lifted. He glanced at Lightning but she didn't appear to be putting hers on.

Cid emptied the remaining pack. Various things came spilling out: dried foods, extra clothing, blankets, first aid supplies, a length of rope, several knifes, a sewing kit, a lamp, cookware, silverware, bottles of water, a bedroll, a tarp, gysal greens, potions, phoenix downs, various shrouds, and even a map. Hope couldn't help but wonder just how he had gotten all this stuff. It must have all been invaluable. "Take what you can carry," he said, offering each of them one of the now empty knapsacks.

Hope immediately went for the shrouds. Who knew if they might need to avoid another monster? As he reached for the nearest decepticol, though, he felt a hand bump into his. Looking up, he found himself looking into Lightning's eyes. Hope jerked his hand away so fast, he nearly smacked himself in the face. Lightning raised an eyebrow at him. Hope's gaze fell to the ground. He heard a sigh. "What's on your mind, Hope?"

What was on his mind? Hope shook his head. "Just feeling a little jumpy," he said. He imagined trying to ask Lightning for advice on what he should do about these feelings, maybe using somebody else as an alibi. But who else could he even use? It was just the two of them and Raines.

Lightning gave him a concerned look but didn't push it.

Hope packed several of the other things he knew he would need, trying not to think about how close Lightning was or the tension he felt between them. He picked up the lantern, some dried fruits, and a pan. He wondered if they would have enough to make it over the pass. Would they run into another one of those yetis? Would they be prepared for anything that they could possibly face? Though he didn't want to admit it, their last run in had left him feeling shaken. Even worse, he felt like what had nearly been their death was his fault. Was he even safe to be around? Would Lightning and Cid be better off without him?

He was surprised again when he felt a hand on her shoulder. He looked up, found himself looking into Lighting's eyes. She seemed hesitant, almost nervous. For some reason, he nearly jumped when she spoke.

"Listen, Hope. Whatever negative thoughts you are having, don't entertain them." Her voice was gentle yet stern. She looked back to him and Hope saw an unexpected ferocity. "Were going to make it through this and were going to do it together."

Hope nodded, something fluttering in his stomach. "I know, Light," he said and, at that moment, he believed her. As he sat there, looking into her eyes, he thought about the power that she probably didn't even realize she had over him. Just a touch from her had sent his confidence soaring.

He caught a faint upturn of the corner of her lips. His pulse rocketed upward and he found his own lips slowly curving into a smile. Before he could gauge her reaction, though, a voice rang through the tunnel.

"We might be able to dig our way out."

He was standing at the side of the tunnel that had been buried – their only way out of here. Lightning turned to the man and Hope felt a frustration in their moment being cut off.

Lightning joined Cid at the buried entrance. She brushed her hand over the wall of stone that blocked their path. Hope watched her brows furrow, her face set in stone as she stared at the wall. It looked like she was thinking deeply about the problem. Cid knelt there, an equally thoughtful expression on his face as he gazed at the obstacle in their path.

Hope glanced at the obstacle himself. It was a solid rock wall, pouring into the tunnel itself. Even if they managed to dig their way out, who knew what they would find on the other side? Perhaps the entire path had collapsed into the abyss. If that was the case, they would have a very difficult time getting out of here, which would be bad news for him and Lightning as their brands gradually advanced. The idea left a feeling of dread in Hope's chest. If they failed their focus because of this...

"We could build a bomb."

It was Cid's voice again. Both Hope and Lightning's eyes immediately shot to the man, looking at him as if he were insane. "And bring this entire mountain down on top of us?" Lightning retorted.

Hope was wondering more HOW they were going to build a bomb.

"If we are careful, we can do it without bringing anything down but the wall," Cid responded casually. "We have everything we need to build it. We just have to do the actual building." With that, Cid turned around, strode past Hope, and grabbed his knapsack.

"Hey what are you..." Hope said, trailing off as Cid dumped all the stuff he had carefully packed. Cid examined the contents for a moment before shaking his head and moving onto his own bag. After a moment of searching, his eyes seemed to light up. "Ah. This will do." He picked up a relatively small metal canister, taking a moment to size it up before pouring out the water inside. "Miss Farron. I believe you have quite a bit of ammunition on you?"

"You're actually making a bomb?" Lightning responded, her eyes narrowed at him.

Cid didn't answer; he only looked expectantly at her.

"No way," Lightning growled.

"No way?" Cid repeated.

"You start another rock slide and this will be our grave."

"I don't understand, Miss Farron."

"What don't you understand about, 'I'm not helping you build our grave?'" Lightning snapped.

"The part where I help you build our grave?" Cid said, honestly looking confused.

Lightning only looked pissed. For a second, Hope was afraid she was going to actually hit Cid. Instead, she abruptly picked up her knapsack, turned around, and strode off.

Hope was even more confused by her reaction. "Wait," he said, running after her. "Light, where are you going?"

"I'm getting out of here. If that moron wants to bring the mountain down on us, I'm not going to be here." She looked up the mountain. It was a sheer face for hundreds and hundred of feet.

"W-wait, Light, what about the monsters?"

"What about them?"

"Don't we need Raines?"

"Not if he's going to kill us," Lightning said, turning away.

"So...were just going to leave him?"

Lightning paused for a moment, appearing to be considering his question. Then, she walked up to the cliff face and began to brush her hand across it, likely looking for a foot hold.

A sudden realization hit Hope. Lightning was leaving. She was honestly leaving. It felt like the vile peaks all over again. There was no way he could climb that cliff face. It didn't even occur to him that Lightning was less likely to leave him behind now than she was back then. All he could feel was this fear from the notion that he was about to be abandoned. "What if something happens, Light? What if you get into a battle and you need him?" Hope said, his fear evident.

Lightning huffed. "I don't need his kind of help," she said.

Hope's heart sank. "What about me?" he asked softly.

"What about you?"

Panic took over. "You're...you're just going to leave here without me?"

Lightning turned to face him. She looked somewhat taken aback. "I'm not leaving here without you, Hope," she said.

"You're not?" Hope was unsure whether to feel embarrassed or relieved.

Lightning sighed. "I wouldn't just leave you, Hope," she said, looking somewhat exhausted.

Relief swept over him. Still, something about this bothered him. "Light, I don't think Raines is trying to get us killed," Hope said.

Lightning suddenly whipped around. "What do you want, Hope? I'm not stopping you from staying with Raines if that is what you would prefer."

Hope was surprised by just how cold her gaze was. "I want to come with you, Light," he said, giving her a pleading look, "But I don't think we should leave Raines." He wasn't quite sure why he was defending Cid. He didn't particularly like him. At the same time, he genuinely felt that leaving Cid was a bad idea.

"Why not?" she said, putting a hand on her hip. Though she still looked angry, she at least looked like she was giving him her attention.

"Think about it Light. Climbing up that mountain will take so much longer. Cid can get us out quickly. I think he knows what he is doing. He's helped us, Light. He's fought by our side. It just doesn't make sense that he would take such a risk after working so hard to keep us alive."

"What makes sense about him wanting to help us in the first place?" Lightning responded. "Listen Hope. I don't know why, but he has his reasons, and I doubt it's out of the goodness of his heart. He betrayed us once. Do you think he won't do it again?"

There was a moment of hesitation on Hope's part before he said what he said next. "I don't know, Light. Maybe he will. I don't know what Cid will do, but I do know that this is unfamiliar territory. Cid knows about this world. He can use magic. We can't. He can protect us. Without him, any number of things could go wrong. I know you don't like him. I don't like him either. But we have to stick with him."

Lightning snorted. "Protect us? So far, all he is proven is that he is a little less useless than us. You've got decepticol on you don't you? We don't even need him."

"You don't know that, Light. What if something happens? What if-"

Lightning cut him off. "If something happens, we'll handle it Hope. Were fully capable of taking care of ourselves. In fact we were doing just fine before he came along."

"Light, If he hadn't come along, I would be dead," Hope blurted.

There was a sudden pained look in her eyes. It surprised Hope. He hadn't expected Lightning to...have such a reaction. Before he could think about it though – before he would decipher what it meant – the pain was replaced with anger. "I don't need to reason with you, Hope," she snapped. She turned away from him, ready to walk away.

Without thinking, Hope reached out and grabbed her wrist. Lightning froze. Hope was suddenly afraid that he had done it now. He was afraid she would take her anger out on him – that she would say something that would really hurt. Instead, when she turned back to him, she simply looked confused.

Hope saw it as his chance to speak "Light...if you don't trust Raines, please at least trust me," he said, looking directly into her eyes. "I don't think either of us would be alive if Raines hadn't come along. Even if I hadn't died from that gun wound, or even gotten shot, we would have been finished off by the yeti or some other monster if it hadn't been for him. We need him, Light. We have no choice. We have to put our trust him him. If we don't, our chances of surviving this are...well...low. Very low..."

Lightning's expression softened slightly as she looked back to him. She closed her eyes. "Hope...please...just let go," she said, shaking her head.

For some reason, even in the heat of the moment, Hope couldn't help but notice how gorgeous Lightning was, despite the fact that she was dirty and beaten up and angry at him. He tentatively rubbed his thumb over her wrist. "You just told me not to entertain my negative thoughts, right?" he whispered, looking up to her. "Well...I hate to see you acting on yours."

Lightning sighed. She looked like she wasn't sure exactly how to react. Hope knew what he wanted. His gaze wandered to her lips. He hated it – hated that he wanted this from her so much, yet hated that he couldn't have it. He hated even more that he was having these feelings when he was supposed to be talking Lightning into something totally unrelated. He nervously licked his lips, waiting for her to say something – to say anything.

"Okay, Hope. You win," she finally said, opening her eyes. She looked exhausted.

Something in Hope's hear soared. "Thanks, Light," he murmured.

"Yeah," Lightning responded, looking away.

For a moment, there was dead silence. It was Lightning who was the first to speak. "Uh...Hope?"

"Yes, Light?" Hope said, looking up to her, eager to please.

"Do you think maybe you could let go of my wrist?"

Hope immediately did as she requested, his face turning a light shade of red. "S-sorry, Light," he apologized, feeling embarrassed.

"It's fine, Hope," Lightning said. He was slightly taken aback when he saw the ghost of a smile on her face. Without thinking, the corner of his own lips curved upward ever so slightly. He was even more surprised when her own smile widened, her eyes gentle and understanding. As he looked to Lightning, his heart beating rapidly in his chest, he realized it was moments like this that made this all worth fighting for.

This time, there was no Cid to ruin the moment.

* * *

As the two of them returned to the tunnel, Cid looked up. "Ah. You're back," he said, looking to Lightning. He was leaning over something at the edge of the rock wall. He turned to Hope. "I could use your help, Estheim, to light this fuse."

Lightning raised her eyebrows. "I thought you needed gun powder," she said.

"I need that too," Cid responded.

Again, Lightning looked angry. For a moment, Hope was afraid all his effort to convince her to stay had been in vain. After a moment she reached into her pack, pulled out a handful of bullets, and dropped them on the ground behind him.

"Thanks, Farron," Cid said. Lightning grunted, crossing her arms over her chest before turning around and walking back to the entrance of the tunnel.

Hope watched as Cid opened the shells and emptied the gun powder into the canister. He wondered if Cid had any idea of how close Lightning had come to leaving.

Soon Cid had the finished bomb in place. Or what at least he claimed was a bomb. Hope was skeptical. All the same, he appeared to be confident that what he had would explode.

Cid placed the device into a crack in-between the rocks. Hope followed his instructions carefully as he used his manadrive to light the fuse. Then, the two of them ran to the other side of the tunnel, ducking behind a rock. Hope covered his ears. Several moments passed. Then, there was a loud bang. It shook the walls and sent dust flying into the tunnel. Hope coughed, holding his hand over his nose and mouth as he waited for it all the clear. At least it appeared that they hadn't brought the entire mountain down on them.

As some of the dust settled, Hope could see a ray of light shining through the tunnel. It appeared that the bomb had worked! Or at least worked part way. While a lot of the rocks had collapsed into the tunnel, the only exit it had created was a small hole. As the dust cleared, he could see that it wasn't quite large enough for any of them to crawl through. Still, with some digging, they could make it larger. They would be out of here soon.

All three of them approached the small hole. Lightning reached out, tugging at a rock around it. She turned back to the two of them. "We have no time to waste," she said.

Cid looked back at the pile of stuff he had dumped out. "Guess we better repack".

As Hope sat down and began to do just that, he suddenly realized something. Lightning had listened to him. No...she hadn't just listened to him. He had talked her out of something. She was the most stubborn person he had ever met. When she made up her mind, she didn't change it easily, and yet he had actually got her to do it. Not only that but it seemed that it had been that intimate moment where he had held her wrist in which she had changed her mind. Perhaps it hadn't been that action alone. Still...it made him wonder – wonder just how deep her feelings for him ran.

Perhaps there was hope for him after all.

* * *

**So...Cid has an Eidolon. I know my choice might not make a lot of sense, but I chose Cerberus for a reason. I hope his weapon is okay too. It's based off what roosters use in cock fighting. I thought it would fit him since, in the battle where you fight him, he mainly kicks the members of your party in physical combat.**

**Anyway, I hope I did okay with their characters this chapter. I had a bit of trouble writing this, particularly Hope's reaction to realizing he loved Lightning and they way he acted around her thereafter.**

**In any case, it's late, I just came home from my brother's birthday party, and I'm mildly drunk so I think I'll just leave things at that.**


	11. Chapter 11

**An: Hey there. I actually had some time over Thanksgiving break to write this so...well...here is the next installment. This chapter was fun to write but, at the same time, caused me much anger and frustration. Don't ask me exactly how that works.**

**The number of reviews I got for the last chapter was a pleasant surprise. It really tickled me to know that some of you guys missed this story so much. The quarter is almost over and I will have 3 weeks off to just sit back and chill and if my roleplay partner doesn't cause too much distraction, i'll hopefully be able to get a few chapters out during that time.**

**As always, I have to acknowledge of efforts of my beta for always telling me honestly what she thinks of my characterization and setting me on the right track in regards to...well...everything. Thank you for putting up with my antics, Alrynnas. **

* * *

Chapter 11

The first stretch of their journey through the pass had actually fostered a light mood. Lightning recalled Hope's eyes lighting up as they first came upon the threshold between rain and snow. Apparently, the teen had never seen snow up close in real life before and had taken it upon himself to make up for lost time. It had actually been kind of adorable seeing him acting lively – doing things like jumping in the snow drifts and yelping when he got snow in his pants. He even threw several snow balls at Cid, who took it all in good humor, which, for him, meant ignoring them completely. Lightning hadn't quite recalled ever seeing Hope acting so much like...well...a kid. He had lost so much and seeing that he had hung on to at least a small part of his childhood was enough to make her smile.

As they had gotten higher up, however, the mood had quickly changed. Now, fierce winds whipped up the snow, each crystal like a sliver of glass as it buffeted their bodies, stinging every exposed bit of flesh and making it nearly impossible to see. Even without the snow, the cold was enough to, make them miserable. Despite the jackets Cid had provided them with, they were ill prepared for the freezing conditions. There was no relief – the higher they climbed, the colder it got.

Lightning took a step forward, her shoe sinking down into the snow up to her calf. Her bare legs stung sorely in the freezing wind and the feeling had left the tips of her fingers and toes. The symptoms of frostbite and what to do had been briefly covered in her training and was now what kept flashing through her mind. Was she getting frostbitten? Under normal circumstances, she might have stopped to attend to the issue. Now, though, she trudged on. There was no time to stop. If she got frostbite, so be it. As long as she didn't lose her fingers and feet, she would be fine. Besides, she was more worried about Hope than she was about her own condition.

She glanced back to him. He was shivering, his arms wrapped around his body and his face contorted in discomfort as he trudged forward against the wind. All the jollity from before was gone. Once again, his somber mood matched the harshness of their reality.

Hope raised his head, his eyes meeting hers. Lightning stopped, waiting for him to catch up before placing a hand on his back and walking with him. Hope seemed to take comfort in the gesture. His shoulders slackened and his shivering appeared to subside just a little.

The crunch of Cid's boots followed them. He was still wearing his gaffs. Lightning thought they looked tacky, especially in the thick snow where they were probably heavy and hard to move in. Wearing the gaffs seemed pointless now. They hadn't seen a single monster since yesterday. Even the most hostile of creatures apparently didn't want to be out in this hostile weather.

"Light?"

At the sound of her name, Lightning turned to the source. Hope was looking at her, his eyes soft and uncertain. "Hmm?" Lightning responded, waiting for him to elaborate. He looked hesitant. Lightning noted that his face was red, though that was most likely a result of the cold. When he didn't speak, Lightning abruptly stopped in her tracks. "Do you have something to say, Hope?"

Hope blinked, his face somehow looking even more red than before. Than he sneezed. "Sorry," he apologized, wiping his nose with the back of his sleeve. "I was just wondering..uh...if you were cold, Light."

Lightning raised an eyebrow. Was he serious?

When she didn't respond, Hope's gaze fell to the ground. "I-I'm sorry I asked."

She felt bad when she realized she must have been giving him a harsh look. "It's fine, Hope," she said, her expression softening just a little. "It's cold, but I'll survive."

What Hope did next completely caught her off guard. He began to unbutton his jacket, his fingers shaking and fumbling. For a moment, all Lightning could do was watch in silence. Then, with a start, she realized he was exposing himself to the cold. "Hope, what are you doing?" she asked, looking at him with concerned skepticism.

Hope didn't answer. He got the second button undone, then the third. Finally, the entire jacket was undone. After edging it off, he held it open. It took her a moment to realize that he was holding it open for her.

Lightning was at a loss for words.

Hope looked slightly embarrassed when she didn't respond. "I don't want you to freeze, Light," he said softly, his eyes filled with concern.

The words seemed to bring Lightning back to reality. She shook her head, pushing the jacket back towards Hope. "Thanks, Hope, but you're going to freeze without it," she said.

Hope shivered. He glanced at the jacket, then back at her, looking torn. Lightning just felt worried. "Hope," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's already freezing as it is. I don't want to see you make things worse for yourself for my sake."

"Oh," was all Hope uttered, still looking uncertain.

Lighting sighed. "Here give it to me," she said. Hope did as she requested. Lightning lifted up his arm and helped him get back into the jacket. Hope's gaze again fell to the ground as he muttered a thanks. Something in Lightning's heart softened. The gesture hadn't exactly been a stunning demonstration of his intellect. All the same, though she probably wouldn't have admitted it to anyone but herself, something about it had been...oddly sweet. She moved on to buttoning up the jacket, her own hands fumbling.

She was taken aback when she suddenly felt his fingers on hers. His own gloved hands were surprisingly warm. Something fluttered in her stomach. "Let me help," Hope said, his tone gentle and reassuring. His own fingers seemed stiff as he helped her hold the button. For some reason, Lightning didn't pull away like she might have under another set of circumstances. She let him guide her digits from one button to the next. The warmth of his fingers against hers made her realize just how much heat she had lost from her own.

When they finally got the last button done, Hope let go and Lightning seemed to snap out of it. She drew her hand away, distinctly aware of the beating of her heart in her chest.

Somebody cleared their throat. As Lightning looked to her right, she found Cid standing there, his face impassive. For some odd reason, Lightning felt her cheeks heating up. Her face fell into a scowl. How long had he been there?

"Would you prefer if I took the lead?" Cid said. He was looking at Hope as he said this and something about it bothered Lightning.

"Be my guest," Lightning scoffed, turning away from him.

She heard the crunching of boots and, when she looked back, it was just Hope, his gaze on the snow covered ground.

"Let's go," Lightning said. She kept her hands to herself, her movement stiff as they trudged on together uphill through the frozen landscape.

* * *

Lightning wasn't sure exactly how much time had passed. It was hard to see in front of her and it was only getting harder. Though the blizzard had subsided somewhat, everything also seemed to have gotten darker. The sun was setting and with it, the temperature was plummeting even further.

When she saw the sign on the side of the trail, she at first ignored it. As she glanced back, though, what she saw made her raise her eyebrows in disbelief.

**Pass Summit: 1.3 miles ahead.**

It took a moment for the realization to sink it but, when it did, a huge feeling of relief swept over her. They had made it! They were almost to the top. Once they reached it, the trek would be all downhill into warmer territory.

Looking back, she saw that Hope had come to a stop behind her. He looked curious.

Lightning flicked her hand towards the sign and as his gaze landed on it, his eyes seemed to light up.

He looked to Lightning, then ahead to the trail, which rounded around a bend. Cid was out of sight. "We should catch up to Raines," he said.

Lightning nodded in agreement and the two of them took off at a trot to catch up. As they rounded the corner, however, the two of them came to a sudden stop.

Cid was standing there. What caught their attention, though, wasn't Cid but the frozen plain that stretched before him. There was no trail, no vegetation, no nothing; just a white expanse of snow, 500 or 600 feet across with mountains and hardy trees rising around it on all sides.

Lightning looked around. There didn't seem to be any other way but across.

Lightning glanced to Hope and Cid and found the two of them looking at her expectantly. Lightning frowned, shooting her gaze across the clearing. Then, without hesitating, she took a step forward. The snow was surprisingly shallow here and the surface underneath smooth. She looked back to Hope and Cid. "Let's go," she ordered. She moved forward, the sound of footsteps accompanying her as the two of them followed.

While they had been somewhat protected from the wind among the trees, here, with no protection, the wind whipped at them, chilling Lightning to her bones and making the cold even worse than it was before. She glanced at Cid and his large cloak and trench coat. If he was cold, he wasn't showing any signs of it. For a moment, Lightning felt a mild anger at him, but she quickly pushed it away. Getting angry at Cid wasn't going to make things any better.

As they walked on, the far side came into better and better view. She thought she could make out continuation of the trail, the path switching back and forth along a hill.

A sudden splashing sound stopped her in her steps. A bracing chill abruptly penetrated her foot. Lightning took a step back in surprise and, when she lifted her foot, it was soaking wet.

"What the..." Lightning started, but before she could finish her sentence, a sudden creaking noise filled the air. It tore through the chilling silence, loud and ominous. The three of them looked around, looking for a source. It groaned before abruptly stopping. For a moment, all was silent. Then, there was another creak, this one closer. It was when the ground below Lightning abruptly tilted forward that she realized what was going on:

The three of them were walking on ice.

* * *

Hope heard the crackle and before he knew what was happening, the ground was shifting beneath him. Hope spread his feet, trying to steady himself as he wondered what exactly was going on. He looked around and saw it: the ground breaking up before them, revealing water underneath. With a feeling of terror, the realization that they were on ice hit him. Frantically, he looked to Lightning. For a moment, he watched as she bobbed back and forth with Cid. Then, much to his horror, the ice flipped and both of them disappeared below the water's icy surface.

"Light!" Hope yelled. He inched forward, frantically looking into the water. It appeared that their weight had disturbed the ice below them and it was rapidly breaking up, revealing a lake underneath. His throat constricted. He couldn't see Cid or Lightning anywhere.

A head broke the surface. It was Cid. His hair was plastered across his face. He swam forward and clung to the edge of the ice, which just tipped and threw him under again. By the time he came up again, Hope was frantic. "Where is Lightning?" he shouted.

Cid looked around before cursing. "Stay there!" he ordered Hope. Then, without another word to Hope, he dove back under the water.

Hope's eyes bulged. Was the man nuts?! He held his breath, waiting again for Cid to break the surface. Lightning had to have been under for at least several minutes now. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. She couldn't die. He wouldn't let her.

Just as he was about ready to dive in, another head broke the surface. His heart leapt when he saw the pink strands of hair. As Lightning's head broke the surface, she coughed and sputtered.

"Light!" he called out. Lightning gasped for air and as Cid surfaced below her, Hope saw that the man was carrying her on his back.

As Cid approached the edge of the ice, Hope didn't hesitate to reach into the lake to help. When Cid grabbed onto the ice, however, it tipped dangerously below him. Cid let go, looking unusually uneasy as he continued to tread water.

Hope glanced to Lightning and Cid, and then to the shore. "Wait just a minute," he told the man.

Hope knew they didn't have a lot of time. The freezing water was enough to kill them if he didn't get them out soon. He took off his knapsack and began to search through it. Soon he pulled out a length of rope. "Here!" he said, tossing it into the water to Cid. The man grabbed on without question.

After stepping back, Hope began to pull on the rope. Cid grabbed onto the edge of the ice, struggling to pull himself onto it with Hope's help. This time, with the teen's weight further back, the ice didn't tip quite as much. Hope felt the weight fighting back against him. It was so heavy. As Hope tried to pull Cid, he abruptly slipped on the ice and fell. The feeling of his face meeting the hard surface was painful. Hope groaned but he didn't have time to waste. Realizing he had dropped the rope, he got to his knees, looking frantically around for it.

"Here." It was Cid. He threw Hope the rope. Hope caught it. After scrambling to get back onto his feet, Hope pulled, spreading his feet apart as he tried to stable himself and anchor his weight on the ice.

Finally, with a grunt from the man, Cid's legs came over the edge. He collapsed onto the ice, Lightning rolling off his back. Hope started towards Lightning but, as he took a step forward, the ice began to grind and pitch again. He quickly stepped back. For now, he had to get them onto a more stable part of the ice.

"Can you move?" Hope called out to Cid.

"I think," the man answered. He pulled himself up. He was shivering violently. Hope felt his fear increasing.

"Get Light and move towards the middle of the ice flow," Hope ordered.

Cid did as he said, grabbing Lightning around the midriff and dragging himself across the ice towards Hope. Abruptly the ice flow began to tilt in Hope's direction. "Stop where you are," Hope shouted, panic rising as he tipped dangerously towards the icy cold water. Cid did as he said and the floe stabilized slightly. Being as careful as he could, Hope moved towards Cid. The ice flow stabilized a little more. Only, now, they were both stuck balancing in the middle.

Cid stood up, staring at the next flow in front of them. As Hope contemplated their situation, Cid picked up Lightning and took an abrupt step forward before launching himself across the open water. He landed on the next ice flow over. The flow Hope was on rocked slightly before settling. Cid looked to Hope and ushered him to jump. Hope stared at the icy cold water beneath him. Then, taking a deep breath, he follow in Cid's footsteps.

Slowly, they worked their way back across the ice towards the shore. Several times, Hope saw Cid wobbling dangerously, bringing the fear that he would lose his balance and fall back in. In the end, though, they made their way back without further incident.

As their feet hit the solid ground of the shore, Cid collapsed into the snow. Hope immediately went to Lightning. His entire body quivered as he leaned over her. Her face was pale, her eyes closed and her breath was still coming out in short shallow gasps, but she was alive.

"Light!" Hope said, grabbing her by the shoulder as he knelt over her.

Lightning groaned, swatting clumsily at his shoulder and pushing him away. "It's okay, Hope" she muttered.

He didn't feel like things were okay – not with the problem they had on their hands. He glanced around. They had to find shelter – to make a fire – but he couldn't see any shelter of any sort in the vicinity. It was just trees and snow drifts. A feeling of dread filled his chest. What were they going to do now?

"Dig into the snow."

It was Cid's voice. As Hope looked to the man, he saw him on one knee. Hope was confused. Dig into the snow?

"Shelter," Cid elaborated. "It will protect us from the cold and wind."

It was as if Cid had read his mind. Hope hesitated for a moment. Then, leaving Lightning's side, he began to dig into the snow. After digging for several minutes, though, it quickly became clear that this wasn't going to work. His hands were so numb, he could barely feel them, and he had hardly dented the surface. They were going to die before he finished.

"Raines?" Hope said, turning back to the man. Cid didn't answer and, again, Hope felt a panic setting in. "Raines?!" he said, getting in the mans face and shaking his shoulder. "I need help with this!"

Cid opened his eyes and tried to get up, but his movement was clumsy and uncoordinated. After a minute of struggling, he collapsed right back into the snow. "Cold shock," Cid said, mustering up an out-of-place smile. "Don't think...i'll be useful." He let out a strained chuckled and Hope felt an urge to hit the man. He didn't find anything funny at all about this situation. His disconnected speech scared Hope. The man was always so careful and dignified with words, that he was using so little told Hope this was a serious situation.

How much time had passed? Hope had this vague notion that he had a limited window of time before freezing to death became a possibility and that Cid was unable to move was disconcerting.

Trying to hold back his panic, he turned to Lightning. He leaned over her, brushing a hand across her face. He couldn't let her die. Not like this. He closed his eyes. He felt her shudder. Her skin was as cold as ice. "Hope," Lightning murmured again.

Hope opened his eyes. His touch must have stirred her. She looked so frustrated. "I should have known it was ice..." she muttered.

"It's okay, Light. It's not your fault." Hope said. He glanced around. He had to do something. He couldn't just let them freeze to death! If he wasn't going to be able to make a shelter, he had to at least try to make a fire.

First, he reached into his own knapsack and drew out the sleeping bag. He had to do as much as he could to keep Cid and Lightning from freezing to death. He zipped open the sleeping bag, so that it was open like a blanket, and spread it over his two wet and freezing companions.

After he had them covered, he turned to the nearest tree. It was covered in ice. Using his foot, he broke off several of the lowest branches.

After tripping a few times in his hurry to get back, he placed the branches together on the surface of the snow near his two companions. His hands shaking, he carefully aimed his hand at the pile and flicked his wrist.

The flame came out, and with a hiss and a sizzle, the snow all around the branches melted. The branches themselves caught for about a second but before Hope could make any sort of move, the wind blew it out completely. What was left was a hole about 3 feet deep with several branches inside of it.

Hope's heart sunk. He looked down at the indentation in the snow in dismay. What was he supposed to do now? There was no shelter, no fire; the only thing he had to show for his efforts was this hole in the snow.

Then it hit him. A hole! It was a hole. A hole that could be used for shelter! He looked around the clearing, his eyes soon landing on a hard-packed section of snow that had accumulated to the side of the trail. Closing his eyes, he aimed an unsteady hand at the snow. He braced himself. Then, mustering as much energy as he could into a single point, he once again flicked his wrist.

As intense wave of heat hit him as the spell left his manadrive. When he opened his eyes, there was a small tunnel going down into the snow. It wasn't much but it would be enough to keep the wind at bay.

He stumbled back to his companions. "Come on," he said as he ducked under Cid's shoulder, trying to get the larger man to his feet. Hope needed him to help move Lightning.

When Cid opened his eyes, there was a distant look to them. "Do you think you can carry Lightning?" he asked the man.

Cid closed his eyes. "Maybe," he muttered. Hope hoped this meant Cid was going to help, but when it became clear the man wasn't even trying to get up, his heart sank.

Turning to Lightning, he ducked under the blanket and under her arm, trying to lift her up – trying to carry her himself. He grunted straining under the effort. It wasn't like Lightning was much heavier than he was. It was just that he was already weak and freezing and ready to collapse from exhaustion. As he finally made he back to the shelter, he gently lowered Lightning onto the ground. After again making sure she was still breathing, the teen went back for the branches. Cid was still outside but, at the moment, he was secondary to Lightning. Cid was larger and had the sleeping bag. He would survive longer. It would probably be wiser to get a fire started now than to waste precious time trying to figure out how he would move a man twice the teenager's weight.

He brought the branches back and dumped them in front of Lightning. The branches were slightly wet now and it took a few tries before they finally caught fire. When he finally saw those flames flickering, though, a huge sense of relief swept over him. Now, all that was left to do was to go back for Cid.

Though at this point, Hope could barely feel his limbs, the movement that had accompanied running around trying to save him companions life had warmed him...some. As he reached where he left the man, he knelt down and reached out to Cid, shaking his shoulders a little more roughly than Hope would have with Lightning. Cid opened his eyes, glancing at Hope, his face wrinkled in discomfort. "I made a shelter," Hope said.

"You smell like a wolf in sheep's clothing," Cid muttered.

Hope had no idea what the man was talking about. It sounded like complete gibberish."Come on. We need to go there," Hope added, feeling a slight annoyance.

Cid muttered something under his breath, but he still didn't move. Hope closed his eyes, a feeling of frustration once again washing over him. Then, an idea hit him.

"Hold still," he told Cid, though the man didn't really need to be asked. Pulling the sleeping bag off him, he placed it on the snow. Then, with his foot, he rolled the man onto the spread. Taking it by the corners, he used it like a sleigh to haul Cid back to the shelter.

With both Lightning and Cid finally in his shelter, he covered them with the sleeping bag. He took a seat across from them, taking off his own shoes and gloves to warm them up by the fire. As he watched Lightning from across the fire, he noticed that she was still shivering. Worry ate away at Hope. Why was she still shivering? Was this normal? Then, abruptly, it hit him.

They were still wearing wet clothes.

He remembered Lightning telling him back in the tunnel several days ago that his wet clothes should be removed or he would get sick. Did that mean that he should remove his two companions' clothes now? Scooting up to them, he pulled the blanket away. He glanced between the two of them, feeling uncertain. He saw that Cid was also shivering. It was when saw just how pale Lightning's complexion was, he made up his mind.

Cid opened his eyes as Hope reached for his coat. "Hold still," he requested of the older man, not really wishing to explain what he was doing.

He wasn't sure if Cid was aware of what he was doing. "Too hot," the man muttered. His hands were shaking as he reached for the zipper on his jacket. Hope watched as his fingers slipped repetitively, wondering if he should do something. When Cid next spoke, however, his wishes were clear: "Farron. Help Miss Farron." Hope was surprised. Cid had seemed so out of it. At the moment, though, he didn't have time to think about it.

As Hope turned to Lightning, he felt a new kick of adrenalin pumping through his body. While helping Cid out of his clothes would have been easy enough, helping Lightning out of hers was a bit of a different matter.

Hope hovered over her in hesitation, his hands shaking and his face a bright red. He tried to steel himself. He had to do this. This would possibly save her life. All the same, under circumstances like this, it felt so wrong. He respected Lightning so much and to do this without her permission...it wasn't right.

As he began to fumble with the buttons on her jacket, he felt even more mortified when Lightning opened her eyes and looked at him. Even though she was sleeping better than she had been before, she still looked so exhausted. She glanced down at his hand, then back up to him, a mixture of confusion and annoyance, and a hint of uncertainty, in her expression. She didn't need to speak; the question of 'What are you doing?' was communicated across her features as clear as words. All she managed to get out, though, was, "Hope," his name leaving her lips as a hoarse whisper.

Hope felt like a deer caught in a pair of headlights. "I-I-" he stammered. He looked away, his face a bright red. When he finally got up to courage to explain, his voice was soft. "I'm trying to get you out of these wet clothes." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, though, he wished he could take them back. That was NOT how he had wanted it to come out.

If Lightning thought anything wrong about it, though, she didn't show it. Instead, much to his surprise, she turned her gaze away. "Okay," she murmured. Her reaction confused Hope. She looked almost bashful. As the realization that she was giving him permission to undress her took hold, however, so again did the urgency of the situation. This was life and death . There was no time to be bashful.

Hope reached for the jacket and began to unbutton it, unable to calm the hectic beating of his heart as he worked. He fumbled some but layer by layer, he peeled away her clothing. Lightning helped a little, lifting her arms to make things easier to get off, but otherwise her coordination seemed to be very poor and it was increasingly becoming clear that she was having trouble hiding the severity of her condition. She was shaking, he face pale and her breath coming out in shivering pants. Hope knew Lightning had a habit of hiding her weaknesses – that it was something she was good at doing – but, now, it was clear that there was something wrong and it scared him.

All the same, she kept her cool, doing it even better than he was. Though she was physically shaken, emotionally, she was remaining very calm and collected. Hope admired her for it. At the same time, he saw something deeper in her expression. He saw a hesitation – an uncertainty that perhaps stemmed from some form of fear. This, even more than the condition itself, scared Hope.

Still, he worked on, his fear perhaps driving him to move faster. Finally getting down to her turtleneck, he reached for the zipper and pulled it down. At first, he didn't really look, his focus not really on what was underneath the shirt. As he got the zipper down, though, and moved on to getting the turtleneck off, what he saw made him freeze.

It was partially hidden beneath her bra but what was there was unmistakable as her brand. This was his first time seeing it and at first he felt timid. He quickly got over it, though, for what concerned him wasn't seeing her brand but rather how far along the brand was in the first place. Removing the cloth on his own wrist, he compared them. Lightning's, indeed, seemed to be farther along than his own. Why? They had awoken from crystal stasis near the same time, right? Why would her brand be farther along than his?

Lightning opened her eyes and, realizing where he was looking, Hope quickly drew his gaze away from her. He heard Lightning shift. Then, her voice. "What are you waiting for?" Hope was taken aback by just how harsh, yet clear, it was.

"Your brand, Light..." Hope mumbled, afraid she had gotten the wrong idea.

When he looked back to Lightning, she looked surprisingly riled. She had her hand over her brand. All the harshness from before was gone, instead replaced by uncertainty. She furrowed her brows, her gaze fixed on the ground. She looked like she was struggling to come up with something to say. When she finally spoke, her voice was calm. "Don't worry."

Hopes hand's shook. "How can you tell me not to worry?" he whispered.

"It's normal. Fang...she said it was."

"Normal? How?" Hope asked, unable to hide the fear in his voice.

Lightning looked like she didn't know what to say. Hope had this strange feeling there was something Lightning wasn't telling him. "Forget it, Hope," she finally said, closing her eyes. "This...this isn't really the time."

"Oh," Hope said, realizing she was right.

He helped her out of the rest of her clothing, leaving her in her lingerie, before returning to Cid, who was still having trouble getting out of his own clothes. He helped the man, who finally relented the job to him. The whole time, though, he wondered about Lightning's brand. What would make hers advance faster than his? Was it her focus? She had told him that her vision had been similar to his. If that was true, she had the same focus right? No it couldn't be that. It had to be something else. But what?

He was ready to collapse to the floor and sleep. Cid, though, stopped him. Though the man was out of his clothes, he had thrown the blanket off himself, his body bare and exposed.

"W-what are you doing?" Hope stammered.

"Too warm," Cid muttered. His lips were pale. They almost had a blue tint to them. He began to strip himself of the one piece of clothing Hope had left on – his underwear.

"No. Not too warm!" Hope said with alarm. Cid was freezing to death! Why did he think it was warm? Luckily, it didn't take much convincing to get him to stop. Though he was a large man, the cold had sapped the strength out of him. A simple push and he was laying back against the wall. Hope pulled up his underwear and laid the sleeping bag back across him. The man let out a violent shiver. Luckily The warmth from the fire was beginning to heat them. Hope could see a little bit of the color returning to his face.

As Hope finally stripped off his partially wet and frozen clothes and pulled an end part of the sleeping bag over himself, it didn't take long for sleep to overtake him.

* * *

_The the sound of raspy breathing filled the air. Hope glanced around, but saw nothing. There was no light; all that greeted him was an ominous pitch black space. _

_Hope could feel his heart beating deeply in his chest. He wanted to do something – to take a step forward – but the vast darkness paralyzed him. He had no knowledge of what lay ahead, no way of knowing if it was safe._

_Suddenly, he heard a heaving shudder, the sound ricocheting off the walls of the empty space. His blood froze. He heard the rattling of chains dragging across a hard stone floor. The sound got closer, accompanied by those heavy footsteps and, in an instant, he knew again what it was._

_He wasn't expecting the sudden the rasping noise of heavy breathing directly in his ear. With a start, he realized the beast was directly upon him, so close he could feel the humid warmth of its breath._

_Hope took a step back and the chains rattled. He saw those ominous glowing eyes directly in front of him, level with his own. There was a snarl and the sound of jaw's snapping. Hope's pulse rocketed upward, his heart pounding in his chest. Another step back and he fell backwards. There was a grunt. Hope held his breath, hoping the lack of sound would make the beast go away. He didn't like this. He didn't like it at all._

_A sudden snarl erupted forth, the chains smashing against each other. It sounded like the beast was _

_struggling. The darkness, though, was so complete, he still couldn't make out anything – anything besides those deep glowing eyes._

"_What are you?" Hope found himself asking. He wasn't sure why he had asked the question but, once it was out, it felt stupid. It was a beast – the beast his focus involved transforming into. What else did he need to know?_

_There was no response anyway, only a growl and the sound of footsteps retreating back into the unknown._

* * *

Lightning awoke to the sound of Hope's whimpers. As she sat up, she was confused, at first, as to where she was. Then she remembered – plunging into the water, becoming disoriented, and getting hauled back to the surface.

She looked around the dimly lit shelter. A clear night sky greeted her as she looked to the entrance, the stars shining more brightly and brilliantly than they ever did back in Bodhum. The clouds, it appeared, had cleared and in the light of the moon, what she could see of the frozen landscape looked tranquil; a far cry from the deadly cold that enveloped it.

Her eyes shot to the glowing embers from what remained of the fire. Her clothes were haphazardly laid out next to it. The memory of Hope taking off her clothes came back to her. It was a vague memory, muddled with pain and emotion. She could only make out bits and pieces: Hope's red face, the shaking of his hands, his eyes on her brand.

She remembered Hope asking her something about the brand. She looked to it. Her hand had already unconsciously covering it. Or perhaps the hand had never left it in the first place. She lifted it, revealing the partially open eye. She remembered Hope's face and the unadulterated worry in his expression. She closed her eyes, listening to the nearby breathing of Cid.

She soon opened her eyes again and lifted the cover off of her before going to her clothes. Though they were cold, they were dry. She put them back on, shivering the entire time, before returning to her spot on the floor and pulling the sleeping bag back over herself. Though she wasn't pleased with the situation – she was still tired and freezing. She didn't particularly care that she was sharing the sleeping bag with Cid. At least not for now. She closed her eye and tried to sleep.

As the minutes passed, though, she found she couldn't just fall back asleep. Something was tugging at her mind. She heard another sigh and the sound of somebody rolling over. When she opened her eyes and looked down at her feet, she saw Hope still there. In the faint glow of the fire and the moonlight filtering in through the open entrance, his face looked pale.

Lightning extended a hand out towards him, her fingers lingering gently above his face. She felt hesitant. She couldn't just leave Hope out here to freeze. Finally, she reached to his shoulder and shook it. "Hope," she whispered.

The teen stirred, his eyes fluttering open. His eyelids seemed heavy, a momentary lost look to his eyes as he glanced up to her. "Light?" he murmured.

A strange feeling rippled in her stomach. Without thinking, she reached out and gently cupping his cheek in her hand. Hope's eyes widened. "L-light?" he repeated. His face looked a little less pale than before.

Lightning sighed. She wasn't quite sure what to say. She brushed a finger across his cheek. "You look cold," she finally said, a serious expression on her face.

Hope's face had gone from a pale hue to a more rosy color. "I...uh..." he started, looking like he wasn't sure how to answer.

Lightning shook her head. "Come here," she murmured. She grabbed his wrist and gently pulled him forward so that he was sitting up next to her, an arm wrapped protectively around him.

She felt his body stiffen. "Light...ah...w-w-what are you..." he stuttered.

"Relax Hope," she told him. "I don't want you to freeze to death." She reclined back against the wall, placing a hand on the side of of his head and bringing it against her shoulder. "I'm not going to let you sleep in the cold."

She felt Hope shift slightly as she drew the sleeping bag back over the two of them. She could sense the rising and falling of Hope's chest accompanied by the soft sound of his breathing. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, having Hope rest against her. In fact, though rather foreign, it was quite nice.

Hope was the first to break the silence. "Uh...Light..."

"Hmm?"

"I...don't mean to push or anything but...I'm still worried about your brand..."

Lightning stiffened. Hope must have sensed he had touched a delicate subject for he proceeded to apologize. "Sorry. I guess I shouldn't have said anything."

Lightning didn't know what to say. Absentmindedly, she ran a hand through his hair. She wanted to say something, but what? "What do you want to know?" she finally murmured.

"Why, Light? Why is your brand farther along than mine?" His voice reverberated through his frame, creating a gentle vibration as he rested his head against her shoulder

"I don't know," was her immediate response. She felt something akin to frustration. What could she possibly tell him when she knew nothing herself.

"Light..." Hope said. When she looked down, she found herself looking directly into his teal-green eyes. They were filled with concern. He reached out and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes, his fingers brushing across her cheek as they briefly made contact with her skin.

A strange feeling rose in the pit of her stomach. She pushed it down, her face feeling warmer than usual as she turned her face away from Hope's. She was distinctly aware of the rapid beating of her heart.

"I...I wish I could do something," she heard Hope murmur.

Lightning sighed. "Just rest," she told him.

"I will if...if you promise me one thing..."

Lightning looked back to Hope, feeling suspicious yet curious. "Promise what?"

Hope seemed to fidget, looking a bit intimidated under her gaze. "Promise me you won't push yourself too hard," he whispered.

Lightning was taken aback by the sudden intensity of his gaze as he looked up to her. Stubbornly, she placed a hand atop his head. "Don't worry about me Hope," she told, or more like ordered him.

Hope shook her hand off his head. "Then promise me, Light," he said, looking frustrated as he closed his eyes. His body let out a shudder as he lowered his head, resting a hand against her shoulder. "Promise me you will take it easy."

Lightning didn't want to make any promises she couldn't keep. All the same, when she saw Hope's distress, felt his hard grip on her shoulder, something in her heart softened. "Okay, Hope. I promise," she murmured, her hand brushing back his hair as she gave him the most reassuring smile she could muster.

Hope lifted his head, looking relieved. For a moment, she saw something in his eyes – something raw and passionate. Lightning suddenly realized just how close his face was. After a moment, though, the look disappeared, being replaced by a passiveness as he leaned in again and rested his head against her shoulder.

As the two of them drifted off to sleep together, a thought occurred to Lightning. Was this...okay? For her to be sleeping with Hope like this? She hadn't seen anything wrong with it initially. She was, after all, his protector. If that involved protecting him from the cold, she would do what needed to be done.

Now, though, for some reason, after the way he had looked at her and the strange way this had made her feel, she wasn't so sure.

* * *

**AN: I'm not really sure what else I have to say about this chapter. As always, feedback of any sort is appreciated. I hope I didn't go too overboard on the fluff for this chapter? Or is it good that I went overboard? It's actually somewhat toned down compared to my original draft...**


	12. Chapter 12

**Finally got this chapter up! I apologize for taking so long. I got stuck in a writing rut and some complicated real life stuff came up.**

**Anyway, the good news is, I finally got a hold of a copy of FFXIII-2. It's actually been better than expected so far, though I'm still not a huge fan of Serah or Noel. In any case, I started a little blog chronicling my play through and my thoughts and observations, mostly of the humorous type. If you are interested in checking it out, the link to it is on my profile. There isn't much there at the moment, but I'll be adding more as I actually get into the game.**

**Oh and, finally, I'm getting all hyped up for Lightning Returns. I'm so excited because Hope and Lightning are apparently going to work together? Sort of? I've seen the first video for it and Lightning's new outfit it looks like it's going to be a hell of a lot of fun.**

**One last thing before I move on to the chapter. I went back and rewrote one part in the last chapter. Nothing significant that changes the plot in any way. More just a slightly more accurate depiction of hypothermia.**

**Oh and, before I forget, thank you guys for all the reviews and for being patient with me~ c:**

* * *

Chapter 12

Lightning wasn't quite sure where the snow ended and the crystal began. They had been traveling downhill since yesterday morning. Signs of vegetation had all but disappeared. The landscape that stretched before her now was like a frozen wasteland. The texture of the snow had even changed at some point. She hadn't realized it at first, but the further and further along they went, the more the snow below her crackled and the more she began to get the feeling that she was walking on glass. With a start, she had realized the snow below her feet was no longer snow but, in fact, crystal.

Lightning trudged on, the peaks of the mountains rising behind them. Though they had made it to the other side, the terrain was still rugged. Rocks jutted out around them, creating a landscape of slopes and ridges. It was familiar – all too familiar.

Her thoughts wandered back to the night before. For some reason, her mind kept mulling over Hope and that moment where he had undressed her. It wasn't the act itself that had bothered her; it had been the way his face had looked so red. She probably shouldn't have been surprised. He was a teenage hormone bomb. Of course he would feel awkward about doing such a thing. Still, it bothered her more than she wanted to admit; in part because, in a way, she had felt awkward about it too – more awkward than she had wanted to feel.

Even worse was how she felt when she had slept with Hope curled up next to her. That way he had looked at her...she wasn't sure what to think. It had made her feel something strange in the pit of her stomach, something she wasn't sure she wanted to understand.

Still...when she thought about it, she couldn't deny that Hope had grown on her.

"Hey...Light?"

Ironically enough, it was Hope's voice. He was walking in front of her, his arms still rigidly wrapped around his body as if the snow had frozen them there and they had yet to thaw out.

"Hmm," Lightning responded, trying to bury her thoughts of last night.

"Do you think I'll finally get to meet Serah?"

For some reason, the question caused Lightning to stop in her tracks. Hope must have sensed that what he had said caught her off guard for her turned around, a questioning concern in his eyes as he gazed at her.

Lightning quickly recovered from her surprise. She furrowed her brow, giving Hope a frown, though she was actually glad for the distraction.

Hope seemed scared as he looked back to her. "S-sorry Light. I...I didn't mean to..." he started but trailed off as if he wasn't sure exactly how to apologize.

"It's fine, Hope," she murmured. Then, surprising even herself, she said, "Remember what I told you at the Vile Peaks."

Hope looked like he wasn't sure. Lightning came up beside him. "I told you...if you think like that, it's already over," she murmured, her eyes on the horizon.

Hope still looked uncertain. Lightning turned to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "We'll find her, Hope," she said, sounding more certain that she felt.

There was something on his face, something Lightning didn't quite understand, and that same feeling from last night rose into her gut. She quickly tore her gaze away, looking up the trail. "We better get moving," she murmured, trying to bury the feeling with her thoughts from the previous evening.

With that, they continued down the trail.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed but when Hope came to a sudden stop in front of her, Lightning nearly bumped right into him. Stumbling back, alert, she looked around, her hand automatically finding the handle of her gunblade. "What is it, Hope?" she asked, her voice cold and detached of emotion.

"I would come take a look at this, Miss Farron."

It was Cid's voice. The ground curved up from where she was, obscuring what was ahead but she could see Cid's frame silhouetted against the backdrop of the sky as he stood there above them.

Lightning stepped forward to join him and what she saw, as she too reached the top of the hill, took her breath away.

Her eyes wide, her bottom lip shaking, she stared as the landscape before her. A vast rugged plain stretched out in front of them. It was rocky and jagged and at one end stood an enormous tower, rising high above the landscape. That, though, wasn't what caught her attention. A large body of water stretched out part-way across the plain and, at one end, there was a small cluster of buildings. Lightning knew where they were.

They had finally made it.

* * *

Oerba was unchanged from their last visit. It was rather eerie. Every detail was still perfectly preserved, as if time had stood still here. While that city they had awoken in had decayed severely in the short 30 years it had been abandoned, here, at least 750 years had passed and it was still more recognizable as a town than that city had been.

As soon as they reached the building that had once been Vanille and Fang's home, Hope collapsed onto the bed. Cid had been right about the monsters. Though they had plowed through vampires, varcolaci and taxim, it hadn't been easy and it had left Hope feeling so tired, he was ready to simply rest.

Lightning, on the other hand, was on edge. He could hear her pacing around the room, throwing angry words at Cid. Cid thought they should rest. Lightning wanted to go out and look for her sister. It was understandable that they would butt heads over this.

"Miss Farron, if you would calm down and listen to-"

"What? Listen to you? You think I care what you have to say?"

"We're all tired. Look at Mr. Estheim. He crawled into bed the second we got here,"

There was a pause before Lightning spoke. "You're staying here, right? You look after him."

"If you're going to go searching for your sister, despite better judgment, I am going to accompany you."

Hope sat up, scooting up to the edge of the bed and putting his hands on the railing. "I want to go too," he announced, his lips set into a thin line.

Both their eyes shot to him, looking as if they had completely forgotten he existed and, for a moment, Hope wanted to shrink away. Lightning shook her head, looking exhausted. "No, Hope. You should stay here."

"But..." Hope murmured.

"Fine. It's your choice. I'm going and I'm looking for Serah and if you want to stop me, you're going to have to fight me." Her tone was stern, her eyes challenging.

Cid looked to her, his own face impassive. "I'm not going to try and stop you. But I will be coming with you if you insist on leaving."

Lightning didn't look too pleased. She sighed, dropping into a chair and resting her head in the palm of her hand. Cid fell silent. She looked frustrated. Finally, much to Hope's surprise, she stood up and walked over, not to Cid, but to him. "Hope," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I don't think any monsters will come in her. But...if you do need help, yell for me. Yell a the top of your lungs and I will come running."

Hope wanted to protest, wanted to tell her he was coming with but, in the end, he was simply too exhausted to protest. He nodded. "Alright, Light."

Lightning gazed at him and he thought he saw something akin to regret in her eyes. Then, digging into her pocket, she pulled out something that made Hope's eyes widened. "I want you to take this again," she said, grabbing his wrist, placing her 21st-birthday knife in his hand, and closing his other hand over the first. "I know it's not much but I don't want to leave you here completely unarmed."

Her hands felt so soft and, and, as he found himself gazing back into her pale blue eyes, he nodded. "Thank you, Light," he said softly.

Lightning nodded and ruffled his hair, the smallest hint of a smile on her face. Then, turning back, she joined Cid, who was waiting at the door.

As the two left, Hope sat back against the bed. Though it was only mid-afternoon, he found his eyes drooping. He played with the knife, flipping the blade in and out, and slowly his mind wandered. He thought about Lightning. He thought about her rosy lips and her beautiful blue eyes and her well-rounded hips. He wondered what it would be like to hold her – to kiss her on those lips. Would it be warm? Would her lips be soft? What would it taste like? He had never been kissed by a girl before. Well...besides his mother but that had been on the cheek and didn't count anyways.

His thoughts turned to his mother and father. What had it been like with him frozen in crystal? He wondered if his father had even cared that much. And his mother? He missed her. Even if he didn't think about it much, there was a dull ache in his heart. He missed her so much.

Eventually, he put down the knife and pulled the ragged old cover over himself. It must have been an old bed but it was actually rather comfortable. His thoughts, again, went to this village. It was really eerie just HOW well-preserved this place was. It was like the place had been in crystal stasis. Perhaps, he mused, the crystal that covered the entire village kept it in a sort of semi-state of crystal stasis? It seemed like a silly theory but he couldn't help but think it was true, looking at himself and how he hadn't changed in the last 350 years and then looking at how this village had barely changed in 750 years.

His thoughts finally turned to his focus and that dream. It was while thinking about that monster, and wondering far along his brand was, that he finally fell asleep.

* * *

Hope awoke to a bubbly popping noise. He sat up. How long had he been asleep?

He pulled himself to the edge of the bed and caught a glance of his two companions. Lightning was sitting at the table. She seemed preoccupied with her blade, probably doing maintenance of some sort.

Next, Hope looked to Cid. He was standing in front of the kitchen, chopping something on a cutting board. Next to him, a pot of water boiled atop the stove, which was where the bubbling noise was coming from. This was the first time Hope had seen Cid not wearing his trench coat or armor. Instead, he was wearing an apron over formal clothing. He looked much like a butler or a waiter in a fancy restaurant, though his hair was ruffled and his face was slightly sweaty.

When Cid saw he was being watched, he offered Hope a slight smirk. Though there was a coyness to it, it was also oddly amiable. "Hungry?"

"I suppose," Hope said. It certainly did smell good. "What's in it?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Cid said, his expression falling back into a serious one as he concentrated on chopping an unfamiliar plant.

Well that was...reassuring. Hope frowned. He wasn't sure if Cid was being serious or making an attempt at being humorous. He almost hoped it was the former.

"It won't kill you," Cid reassured him. The older man must have sensed Hope's apprehension. Hope still didn't feel that reassured. The teenager turned his gaze back to Lightning. It occurred to him that if they were here, they had finished searching and, judging by Serah's absence, they hadn't found her. Still, he wondered if they had found anything.

"Light?" Hope tentatively called out.

"Hmm," Lightning said, giving him her attention.

"Did you find anything?"

Lightning shook her head. "Nothing," she said, turning her gaze away. Hope caught a glance of her expression, saw the grief that flashed across her features, and suddenly he understood why she was so dispirited. Had they come all this way for nothing?

"There are still places we have yet to look."

It was Cid's voice. He pulled out a chair and took a seat at the table.

Lightning turned her gaze away, her eyes hard.

Hope looked to Cid. "You haven't looked everywhere?" he asked.

Cid sighed, drawing his hand through his hair. "That is correct." He glanced to the window.

"What do you mean?" Hope said, his own gaze wandering to the window.

"She's not there, Raines," This time is was Lightning's voice and she looked angry as she stood up, gazing accusingly at him.

Cid's lips fell into a thin line. "You don't know that, Farron,"

Lightning drew her lips back into something akin of a snarl. "You think she's been here in this god-forsaken place for all these months, just waiting for the day I arrive?"

"Even if she isn't here now, in all likelihood, she has been here. There's a possibility she left some sort of clue to her whereabouts,"

"W-wait," Hope interrupted. "What are we talking about?"

Lightning shook her head. "It doesn't matter, Hope. We've wasted enough time looking for her and what do we have to show for it? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We're chasing phantoms. My sister could be anywhere now and, meanwhile, our brands are advancing and..." she trailed off, a surprisingly pained look in her eyes as she leaned over the table.

Hope stood up and went over to her, alarmed at how upset she looked, but as he tried to place a hand on her shoulder, she abruptly shoved him away. Hope stumbled back.

A dead silence filled the room.

For a moment, Hope just stood there with Lightning leaning over the table, her fingers digging into the soft wood as she brought her gaze to his, her eyes fierce and wild like a startled feral animal. Hope gazed back, at her, looking almost betrayed. He felt his heart constrict. It had hurt...to be pushed away like that. Not just because of his feelings for her. He hated too see Lightning like this, to see her struggling with so much on her conscious. He gazed back at her, his chest heaving and his eyes filled with pain.

Finally, Lightning's eyes softened. She glanced away, looking slightly sheepish. She must have realized just how much her gesture had stung. She sighed. "Come here, Hope," she said.

Hope hesitated for only a moment. He walked up to Light, his gaze falling to the ground, and he felt a hand under his chin. Gently, she tilted his head up so that he was looking at her. "Hope..." she said, closing her eyes like she was struggling with what to say.

Hope brought his own hand up, taking of the hand under his chin. Lightning opened her eyes, he face set in stone as she glanced to their intertwined hands, then to his face.

"We'll find Serah," he said, his voice coming out far more confident than he felt. "You... said so yourself," he added. His voice as a little softer than before. "You reminded me that if you think like that, it's already over, remember?"

She remained silent, her eyes like cold embers as she gazed at him. The tip of his fingers tingled as they rested against the soft skin of her hand. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, staring back at her with a feeling of adoration.

Lightning's eyes finally softened and Hope's heart nearly skipped a beat when he felt the smallest squeeze back. "Right. We'll find her," she said, the former confidence returning to her expression. All the doubt from before had vanished. She was back to the fearless Lightning Hope knew.

"Hm...I think the water has come to a boil," Cid mused, turning back to the stove.

As he busied himself with his cooking, an awkward silence fell between Hope and Lightning. Hope looked down, unsure what to say. Lightning seemed to sense the awkwardness of the situation for when he shied a glance at her, she was also looking away. He felt her hand slip out of his grasp and heard the sound of a chair sliding across the floor. When he looked to her again, she was sitting down, her gaze turned towards the window.

Hope took a seat next to her. As they sat there together, the silence only being broken by the sound of boiling water and Cid working in the kitchen, he studied her features. Her face showed no emotion. Cautiously, Hope placed his other hand on her back. Though Lightning didn't pull away, she didn't turn to acknowledge him either. She seemed so...preoccupied.

"Light," Hope started.

Lightning gave him a sideways glance.

"What did Cid mean you two haven't looked everywhere?" he asked softly.

Lightning didn't answer right away. Instead, she looked back towards the window. When she finally spoke, it was barely more than a murmur.

"The lake."

* * *

A light mist hovered just over the surface of the lake. Hope looked out across the tranquil water. He could see the dark shape of the building perched out on the water. It was way out there, out on the far side of the lake. It must have been built during their time in crystal stasis for it certainly hadn't been there when they had been here before. Neither Cid or Lightning seemed to know what it was or what was inside. '_I guess we will find out soon,_' Hope thought to himself.

He looked to Lightning. She stood at the edge of the water, her hands placed carefully on her hips. Nearby, he could hear the clang of metal against metal as Cid began searching through the debris washed up on shore. Hope wasn't entirely sure what he was looking for. What they really needed right now was-

"A boat," Cid said before he could finish his thoughts. The dark-haired man had waded into the water and was pulling one towards them. It was small, narrow and relatively shallow with a pointed bow and stern.

Lightning raised her brows, but otherwise didn't look too impressed. Hope, on the other hand, was wondering exactly HOW he had come across a boat. It was as if he had magically pulled it out of the debris

Cid brought it up so that it was resting against the shore, the small shallow waves lapping up against the side. With a smile that was a little too strained to be sincere, he gestured to the canoe. "Ladies first."

Though Lightning's expression remained unreadable, her left eye twitched slightly and Hope could tell she wasn't too pleased by his words. "Don't patronize me, Raines," she responded, her tone dry.

The boat was barely large enough to hold the three of them. Hope got in first and Lightning soon got in behind him. Cid was the last to get in, taking up a seat behind the two of them. Hope could feel Lightning pressing up against him from behind and, when he looked back, he saw why. Cid was directly behind her and she seemed to want as little contact with him as possible. She didn't seem to mind Hope as much and the feeling of her body pressed to his back, her long shapely legs tucked in on either side of him, made the silver-haired teenager's face heat up.

Cid handed Lightning an oar and soon the two of them were paddling the boat out into the lake. The boat slid silently through the water, only the gentle sploshing noise the oars made as they hit the surface disturbing the silence. Everything seemed so still around them. Even the water itself was like a thin glassy sheet laid over some large translucent display. Hope thought he saw something slip below the surface a couple hundred feet off; or maybe it was just his imagination?

The teen wasn't sure how much time passed as they got farther and farther out onto the lake. The sun was creeping higher and higher into the sky and he could see the building coming closer and closer into view. The mist, too, was lifting. There was barely a cloud in sight in the sky above – only a clear bright blue as the sun beat down on the tranquil water. Hope had to shield his eyes with his hands as he looked up.

He spared a glance back at Lightning. He watched her muscles flex as she dipped the oar into the water. It was funny. When he had first met her, he had just seen what he was seeing now – a soldier. As he had gotten to know her, though, his feelings of admiration for the soldier side had grown to something more. He had started to see beyond the soldier to the human being, even the woman, that the soldier facade was so good at hiding. Now, he occasionally forgot that she was, indeed, a soldier, and a strong one at that.

Lightning must have sensed she was being watched for, she looked down to him, her eyes questioning. Hope held her gaze, his own eyes nervous yet filled with a boyish curiosity.

Lightning's eyes softened and Hope's determination faltering just a little. "I can row if you would like," he murmured, finally breaking off his gaze, looking just a little sad.

When Hope looked up again, he was surprised to see some confusion in her eyes. Then, before he could respond, she was placing the oar into his hand, her own hands coming to a rest atop of his. "Have you ever rowed a boat before?" she asked, the question curt and to the point, yet coming out as a breathy whisper in his ear.

Hope clenched his fingers around the oar. "N-no. I haven't," he said and, though it was true, he wondered if he would have told her the truth even if it hadn't been true. He liked feeling of their skin touching, his body nestled against hers. Every small brush of her skin against his seemed to send a jolt through his body. It made him heat up – made him rather dizzy – and created a pleasant fluttering sensation in his stomach.

Lightning wrapped her fingers around his fist and in one swift guiding motion, had him dipping the oar into the water. "You direct the movement into your shoulder," she instructed, her arm resting across his as she slowly dragged the oar back through the water. "Don't push too fast or you'll strain your joints."

Hope barely heard what she was saying, but found himself dragging the oar through the water as instructed. It wasn't long before he felt her hands leave his and he was the one doing all the rowing.

The work of rowing was actual rather exhausting and it wasn't long before Hope felt his arms growing tired. Luckily, the small compound was coming closer into view. He could see now that it was a large sterile-looking, white brick building with few windows. It looked like a prison. A feeling of apprehension swept over Hope and, for a moment, he wondered if maybe they should just turn back?

Before he could muddle through this thought any further, however, a sudden jolt rocked the boat. Lightning's arms shot to either side, trying to hold it steady, and Hope found himself bringing the oar up in front of him for protection. For a moment, the boat rocked from one side to the other, dangerously close to capsizing and throwing its occupants into the freezing water. Then a sudden low roaring moan filled his ears. It shook the boat, sending sound vibrations through the water. Hope dropped the oar and slapped his hands to his ears, trying to block out the noise. Then, a large tentacle shot out the water, sending a ripple of waves in their direction.

All at once, the boat capsized, sending its occupants down into the murky depths of the water. For a few moments, Hope struggled in the water, unsure of what was up and what was down. Then, finally noticing the gradient of light and dark around him, he began to swim towards the light. His head soon broke the surface and he found himself gasping, looking around the water for any sign of his companions.

Before he could assess the situation, he felt something wrapping around his left ankle and lift him out of the water. He yowled, kicking and yelling in anger, but to no avail. When he came to a stop, he was dangling upside down in front of a pair of red, squinty, boggling eyes.

"Eheheh. What's a pretty young girl like you doing out here?" boomed a surprisingly shrill voice.

It took a moment for Hope to realize that this creature, which appeared to be a giant purple octopus, was talking to him. "Me? W-wait! I'm no girl!" he said, his face flushing with embarrassment. This thing thought he was a girl?! As he looked at the face of this creature, he could swear it too was blushing, which made Hope even more mortified. "Liiiiight!" he called out, looking frantically around.

The octopus seemed mildly confused. "Light? You mean like the thing the sun creates? Are you sure you're not a girl?"

Hope fumbled around and finally pulled out the knife Lightning had given him. "L-let me go or I'll...I'll hurt you!" Hope snarled, flipping the blade open, the flattened metal glinting in the sun. Much to his surprise, he found himself suddenly plunging back into the water.

As he surfaced, he saw the octopus writhing in pain and Lightning was suddenly out of the water, digging her blade along the length of one of the creature's tentacles, placing her foot upon another tentacle and using it as leverage to leap out of the water entirely.

The creature howled, its tentacles creating ripples as they flailed about in the water. Hope treaded water, trying to keep his head above the surface. He saw Cid on the other side, grabbing onto a tentacle with both hands, using his gaffs to slice at any other appendage that came near him as the one he was clinging to lifted him out of the water. Holding onto the tentacle with one hand, he flicked his wrist, creating a great block of ice. The ice, however, didn't seem to have much affect and soon it had shattered.

"YAAAGH. That hurts!" howled the octopus. It abruptly dove under the water, leaving a trail of blood in its wake.

Cid and Lightning soon surfaced, swimming over to the boat. Both of them were panting and Lightning looked around frantically. "Where is it? Where did it go?" she barked and Hope realized, even if this was 3 against 1, it had an advantage against them: the water was this monster's element. Without a clear foothold on ground, all three of them were in for a battle.

Rather abruptly, Lightning grabbed onto Hope. "OUT OF THE WAY," she snarled, tugging him forward. There was a great roar and the surface bubbled and, before he knew what was happening, Lightning had thrown her gunblade and the creature was flailing, a blade in its forehead

It gurgled, it's mouth foaming and, for a moment, Hope thought it was over. Then, rather abruptly, it wrenched the blade out of its forehead and threw it casually to the side. "THAT REALLY HURT!" the creature screamed. Lightning cursed as her blade sunk into the water. Without hesitation she dove towards her weapon.

"No! Leave it!" Cid yelled, but Lightning had already disappeared below the surface. The creature looked to Cid as he yelled, then to where Lightning had been moments before, and then disappeared below the surface itself.

Cid looked to Hope. "Stay there," he ordered. Then he also dove below the water.

Hope looked down as he treaded water, trying to get a glimpse of either of the three of them. The water was murky. He couldn't see Cid or Lightning anywhere, though he thought he saw the silhouette of the octopus lurking in the darkness.

Despite Cid's order, he couldn't wait. He couldn't leave Lightning down there and risk her drowning. He put Lightning's knife in his mouth and, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, dove down.

The water filled his ears and nose. He opened his eyes, desperately looking around for either of his companions as he swam downward. The water stung his eyes but he ignored it. He had to find Lightning.

He dove deeper, kicking his legs. The farther down he went, the harder it was to see. He cursed. He could only go so long without air and neither Lightning or Cid were anywhere to be seen. He soon felt his lungs aching for the need of oxygen. He hesitated for a moment. Then, with one last forlorn look down, he began to swim back up towards the surface.

The surface, though, was much farther away than he remembered. He stretched out his arms, kicking with all his strength as he tried to reach towards the light. He was finding it harder and harder to hold his breath. His lungs were begging for air and each moment the cramping pressure was getting worse and worse.

Finally, just as he though he couldn't take any more, he broke the surface. He gasped for air, spitting out the knife and putting it back in his pocket. He felt a pain at both corners of his lips and, as he touched his hand to the area and pulled it away, he saw blood. '_Augh. Stupid_,' he thought. He had put it in his mouth so that the sharp end was facing towards him.

At the moment, though, he didn't have time to worry about that. He heard a great whoosh as something burst out of the water and as he whipped around to the source of the noise, the sight that met him caused his body to go numb.

The creature had its tentacles wrapped around Cid. One was holding him around the legs and the other was wrapped around his neck. In a third tentacle was Lightning's gunblade. Not too far away, Lightning was treading water, her face in a grimace as she looked up to where Cid was being held.

Cid's face held no emotion. He seemed to have accepted his fate with a straight face. Lightning, though she looked furious, didn't move.

As soon as the octopus noticed Hope, he laughed. "Don't move, boy, or I will hold your friend under. From what I have heard, humans don't last too long under water,"

"You..." Lightning snarled.

"Wh-what are you?" Hope found himself stuttering. He had never before met a beast that could speak.

"Ultros." The voice came not from the creature but, rather, Cid.

"That's right," the creature said with what Hope equated with a smirk.

If looks could have killed, the look of contempt Lightning was wearing towards this creature could have killed an entire army. She looked utterly disgusted.

The creature laughed. "And what shall I call you?"

"Hope," Hope instantly said, filled with a sudden rage. "Hope Estheim. Remember that name cause it belongs to the person who will kill you!"

The creature eyed him strangely. "Hope? That's a girls name. Are positive you're not a girl?" it said and Hope found his face going even redder than before.

Without warning, Lightning dove forward, intending to attack the creature, but a single flick from a tentacle knocked her back.

"Listen, muscle head. Tell your woman to hold still or I'll kill you."

Cid didn't reply, turning his head away.

The monster turned to Lightning. "If muscle head here isn't going to tell you, I'll eat him. And you too. Though I might keep the boy-girl for a date."

Lightning remained tight-lipped. Hope felt rather mortified at being called a boy-girl. And that this creature wanted to DATE HIM. Still, when Hope thought about it, the creature had made the threat that it would hold Cid under, but it didn't seem inclined to do so. In fact, it seemed like, despite its ability for speech, it wasn't that bright a creature at all. Slowly, an idea began to form in his head.

Hope felt around for the knife Lightning had given him. It was still in his pocket. He opened it up. "Hey you. Ultros. Let muscle he- ...uh Raines go and I'll go on...on a date with you?" Hope was still feeling disgusted by the very idea that this creature wanted to date him.

The creature turned to him, looking befuddled, like it couldn't believe what he was saying. "Raines? Is that this muscle heads name?" He laughed. "I know what you're up to. Do you think you can really trick the great Ultros?" The creature's eyes boggled in its head and, for a moment, Hope thought his plan had been foiled. Then, Ultros said, "How do I know you're not just going to run away like the others?"

Like the others?! "Uh...I promise?" Hope said.

The octopus reached forward with one of its tentacles and Hope saw his chance. As soon as the tentacle was within reaching distance, Hope latched on. Pulling the knife out of his pocket, he began to fervently stab the flesh.

"YAHHH!" the creature yelped. The tentacle pulled him out of the water but Hope held on. He put the knife into the flesh again and again and again. Several times the creature nearly managed to throw him off. Hope knew he couldn't hold on long. Still, he had gotten the desired effect. The creature was preoccupied. He hoped Lightning would take advantage of it.

Once again, Hope drove the knife into the creature's flesh, but this time, he didn't pull it out right away. Using his now free hand, he aimed at the creature and flicked his wrist.

The inferno of fire that shot out at the octopus nearly burnt the boy's hand. The creature yowled and Hope heard the horrible sound of flesh bubbling and popping. Hope pulled his knife out and let go, his body plunging back into the water.

Lightning must have used the distraction to her advantage for, when Hope surfaced, her gunblade was back in her hands and she was leaping towards the creature. This time, she cut through several tentacles and aimed straight at the eyes. The octopus screamed. A sudden blast of ink filled the water and it was gone, diving back into the murky depths of the lake.

Lightning climbed onto the top of their overturned raft. She looked worn out but when Hope approached her, she offered him a hand. Soon, all three of them were atop the overturned boat, staring towards the building and its shore.

"That was a nuisance," Cid commented, his voice so monotone, Hope wondered if it had even been that.

"Guess we'll have to swim for it," Lightning muttered. Then, without warning, she plunged back into the water.

Hope didn't feel too comfortable getting back into the water after their encounter with that...thing. Still, something in his gut told him it would be safer to get to shore than to remain floating out here.

* * *

As Hope dragged himself onto the shore, he found Lightning sitting there, her gunblade lying in the sand. It was a small beach, mixed with rock and sand and, surprisingly a few shrubs. There wasn't a single sign of crystal dust. Hope wasn't sure how to feel about this.

About 7 or 8 feet inland, the beach abruptly ended with a concrete wall that rose about 11 or 12 feet above the shore itself. A little ways down the beach, he could see a set of stairs along the wall leading up to the building.

He walked to Lightning. When she saw him, she kept her gaze on him and, as he sat down next to her, she placed a hand on his arm. "You did a good job, Hope," she murmured and Hope felt his heart leap from her praise.

"Thanks, Light," he murmured back, then added, "You were amazing too."

She offered him a small smile and ruffled his hair affectionately and Hope found his face heating up. He would have liked the moment to last longer but Cid was soon dragging himself out of the water.

As the man joined them, Lightning stood, her eyes wandering to the building, and Hope knew it wasn't over yet – not until they found Serah and completed their focus.

* * *

**From here on out, the plot is really going to start to take shape. I'm actually quite excited. I have so much planned and if all goes well, and school doesn't get too much in the way, I should be turning out chapters faster than I have in the last 3 or 4 months. I hope.**


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